TURN OVER POWER... TO GAIN CONTROL

Power & Control

These two words were keys to beginning my recovery. Without a clear understand of where I did and did not have power or control in my life, it became an unmanageable.

Power is the “power to decide.”

To me power implies ownership. I have power over what I own & what I own I have power over. This is clearly stated to me in the scriptures, “… you can not have two masters.” As a slave, one and only one person has power over you, your owner.

Control is the “control of action.”

To me control implies the ability to direct action. Control is different from power in that one can control what he does not own. An example of this is a borrowed car. Here, the owner has delegated limited powers for a given time, place and purpose. You may be at the wheel, but the owner retains the ultimate terms of use. You could not sell it or trade it in without the pink slip. You certainly wouldn’t paint it a new color or change the upholstery. Even if you did, it wouldn’t mean you had the power to do so. It would only mean you misused your control.

I was blinded by pride.

My problems came when I tried to control things I really did not have the power to; or when I did not control the things I owned. I could not recognize what owned me & what I owned. I let things go when I should have acted. I acted on things I should have let go. I was angry, frustrated, resentful, and finally depressed, guilt ridden, and alone.

Then I started to work the first step.

I began to realize how little I owned. I looked at my past for the things I really had power over, because power is a sign of ownership. And in the first question of the first book I began to see how little power I had over my life. I began to see how powerless I was.

As I began to see how little I owned, I began to realize that another owned me. There was power in my life after all. I saw so many blessings, so many times I was protected. There were so many times when I felt the presents of a power greater than myself. Now I saw that this power was the power of ownership. Now I saw that this power came from my “Owner”.

Control is a necessary part of living a healthy life.

I began to understand that my life was out of control because I had not recognized the One with the power over it. I had not recognized my “owner”, my “Master”, as the scripture says.

I gained control when I turned over power.

God has given me a free will. That means I own myself (but no one else) and have power over my own decisions (and no one else’s). I have come to understand that when my will is in alignment with His that He will supply the power necessary to carry out that will; and with that power, the control I need to live out a healthy, joyful life will abound.