“Then they gathered around him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’” (Acts 1:6).
This was man’s attempt to control the Savior. They wanted things to happen on their terms and in their timing. That’s not unusual. The disciples were probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), having lost their Savior to the cross, and now hearing him talk about leaving them for good.
Do you struggle with control? If you do, this puts your recovery at risk. It would be helpful for you to understand what’s going on. A traumatic event is any incident that causes physical, emotional, or psychological pain. When you live with trauma, this often leads to cognitive distortions such as catastrophizing. You assume the worst in any scenario.
Or you might become hypervigilant, which is a state of increased alertness out of a fear of danger. The result is a natural attempt to control everything you can.
Research by psychologists Lisa Hancock and Richard Bryant suggests that we turn to control as a way to control outcomes at a time when we feel unsettled, due to trauma and the cognitive distortions we have discussed here.
What’s the answer? In a word – surrender.
Recovery Step: Practice Step 3 today. Make a decision to turn your life and will over to the care of God as you understand God.
