{"id":4252,"date":"2019-10-03T08:52:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T12:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4252"},"modified":"2019-09-29T21:28:47","modified_gmt":"2019-09-30T01:28:47","slug":"like-a-rubber-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4252","title":{"rendered":"Like a Rubber Band"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-020.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1364\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-020-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-020-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-020-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Prodigal:\u00a0 Do you have a rubber band that I can use?<\/p>\n<p>Me:\u00a0 No, but I can talk about a rubber band.<\/p>\n<p>This is from the book Believe and Rejoice by James P. Gills, M.D.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Let&#8217;s look at a rubber band.\u00a0 It is either at ease or stretched.\u00a0 And if it is stretched too tightly, it can break.\u00a0 We frequently are like a stretched rubber band.\u00a0 We are at the breaking point because we are busy trying to do things by our own power.\u00a0 And when we are trying to be in control, basically we are caught up in the sin of selfishness.\u00a0 At that point we are stretched and tense like an over-extended rubber band.\u00a0 We are not a peace, and we do not have the joy that comes from a relationship with God.\u00a0 We are acting like three year olds who want to do it all by themselves.\u00a0 And just as parents often do, God will let us fall to teach us that we need His help.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We have set ourselves on the things of this world.\u00a0 It starts small but then it brings us to a place where we are miserable and fighting all the time.\u00a0 We feel stressed and we start verbally being aggressive with others.\u00a0 We look everywhere and go to everyone.\u00a0 They do not help.\u00a0 We need to look up, we need to return to the Lord.\u00a0 We need to let go of our control.\u00a0 Only then will God enter into the picture and help us out.<\/p>\n<p>And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.<\/p>\n<p>Genesis 1:14<\/p>\n<p>Jennifer Van Allen<\/p>\n<p>www.theprodigalpig.com<\/p>\n<p>www.faithincounseling.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prodigal:\u00a0 Do you have a rubber band that I can use? 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Gills, M.D. Let&#8217;s look at a rubber band.\u00a0 It is either at ease or stretched.\u00a0 And if it is stretched too tightly, it &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4252\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Like a Rubber Band - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4252\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Like a Rubber Band - The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prodigal:\u00a0 Do you have a rubber band that I can use? 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