Use this children’s Sunday School lesson to teach kids that God doesn’t usually help us with all of our problems at one time.
Needed: Bibles, various items around the room
Intro Game #1: Two for Two
Divide students into two teams and ask the questions below. The first team to shout the answer gets a point. The team with the most points at the end wins.
1. What happens twice a day? (The clock reads the same time.)
2. What two body parts do people see with? (Eyes.)
3. What two body parts do people walk with? (Legs.)
4. What two body parts do people walk on? (Feet.)
5. What two body parts do people hear with? (Ears.)
6. What two body parts do people filter their blood with? (Kidneys.)
7. What two body parts do people pick things up with? (Hands.)
8. What two body parts do people breathe with? (Nostrils or lungs.)
Intro Game #2: Find a Pair
Name an item around your room that matches another item in some way (color, shape, identical match, etc.). The first student to bring you the matching item wins and gest to name the next item.
Lesson
Ask students, When we believe in Jesus, does that make all of our problems go away?
What if God did something for us and answered one of our prayers; would that mean that God was answering all of our prayers?
(Read Mark 8:22-26.)
“They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus asked, ‘Do you see anything?’
“He looked up and said, ‘I see people; they look like trees walking around.’
“Once more Jesus put His hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Don’t even go into the village.’”
How many times did Jesus have to touch the man’s eyes before he could see perfectly? (Twice.)
Jesus touched the man’s eyes once, and he could see a little better, but he said that people looked like trees.
Then, Jesus touched his eyes again, and he could see perfectly.
Jesus didn’t heal the man completely the first time Jesus touched him. Jesus touched him twice. That’s like how sometimes, God doesn’t make all of our problems go away at once. Sometimes, God helps things get a little bit better, but then, He waits to make them all the way better. Or sometimes, God will do one thing that we asked Him to do, but then, He’ll wait a little while before He does the other thing we asked Him to do.
So, remember, God usually doesn’t take away all of our problems at once. He does it little by little and sometimes, it takes a long time for God to help us with everything we need help with, but He will eventually help us. We just have to be patient.
Game: Tilly Miller
Tell students that Tilly Miller likes balloons and balls, but she doesn’t like toys. Ask them why. If they can’t get the reason (and they probably won’t unless they’ve heard this before), keep telling them things that Tilly Miller likes and doesn’t like. For example, she likes fluffy cotton candy and taffy, but she doesn’t like gumballs or candy bars.
The trick is that Tilly Miller likes anything that has double letters and nothing that doesn’t have double letters. To help kids get the answer, you can write out what she likes and doesn’t like.
When one of the students figure out the answer, remind them God doesn’t always help us with everything all at once. Sometimes, He wants to help us with different things at different times.
Closing Prayer
Jesus, we thank You for always caring about us and wanting to help us. We pray that You’ll help us to be patient as You work with us and help us as quickly or as slowly as You want to, all at once or a little bit a time, just like You did with the blind man in the story. Amen.
You can also find this lesson for Kindle or in print in my book, The Miracles of Jesus.