Scripture: 1 Samuel 12-13
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn God expects everyone to obey Him – even rulers.
- Students will learn God has His own perfect timing and it may be very different from what we would prefer.
- Students will learn it is important to wait for God’s timing and to not try and rush God’s plans.
- Students will learn the importance of waiting patiently for God
Guiding Question: Why does God want us to be patient and trust His timing?
Materials: Two purchased or self-created jigsaw puzzles picturing a story from David’s life, wrapping paper
Procedure: Prior to the lesson, wrap all puzzle pieces individually. (Make sure to have different paper to distinguish between the two puzzles). Review the story of Saul in Trouble from the scriptures above. Remind students how Saul was too impatient to wait for Samuel to make the sacrifice as the Law required. He was too worried his men would leave him if the sacrifice wasn’t made quickly enough. Saul didn’t trust God and took matters into his own hands which never ends the way it is supposed to. When we become impatient waiting on God’s solution and timing, we try to “fix” things for God the way we want them to be. Ask the students to share times when they have been impatient and tried to fix a situation. How did it turn out? Why would it best best to wait for God’s timing in His plan?
Divide the students into two teams. Give each team the stack of wrapped pieces from one puzzle. Tell the students the puzzle is about someone who had to be very patient in waiting on God. One team member will open the first piece and then walk it over to the surface where they will eventually put together the puzzle. The student will walk back and tag the next person on their team who opens another piece of the puzzle and repeats the process. When all the pieces have been opened and placed on the surface, the team can assemble the puzzle. The puzzle will help them answer the question about who had to wait patiently for years after knowing he would replace Saul as king before God actually made him king.
Talk to students about hard it was to be patient when they were in a hurry to complete the task and “win”. Share with the students how they can be patient when waiting for God and be more like David than Saul.
Additional Questions: How can students learn how to grow in their patience?
Supplemental Activity: Come up with situations and/or people your students have to be patient with (this will vary depending on their age). Have the students rate themselves on how patient they are with each situation/person on a scale of 1 to 4 – 4 being the highest. Have the students brainstorm how they can be more patient and Godly with certain situations/people.