Trust
WELCOME TO WEEK 1
Our parents give us instructions, our teachers give us steps to follow, and our coach gives us the play by play. We follow directions all the time, including the ones God give us. God has a plan for us and He calls us to trust Him. We don’t have to see all of His plans for us to follow Him. This week we will see how a widow gave up her last to trust God with her life.
BIBLE STORY
Is it easy or hard for you to follow directions. Some directions can be easy but some are hard. When we listen and practice listening, we can become good at following instructions. Let’s see if we can follow a few directions. Give each child a picture of a rainbow. Then give the following directions:
Color the outer first ring red
Color the second ring with orange stripes
Fill in the third ring with yellow stars
Fill the fourth ring with the first letter of your last name using the color green
Color the fifth ring with blue polkadots
Color the sixth ring with indigo swirls
Color the seventh ring violet balloons
When we follow instructions we follow step by step plans of what to do to accomplish a goal. Maybe we are trying to do a math problem, follow a recipe or play a game. The instructions tell us what to do. God has given us instructions for how we can follow Him. Step one, we can trust God. This week we will read a story about the prophet Elijah and a widow who trusted God to provide for her and her son. She didn’t know what would happen, but she trusteed that God would keep His word. Let’s read or listen to the story for this week.
Read or listen to the scripture I Kings 17:8-16
Where did God send Elijah? (To the village of Zarephath to a widow)
What had God instructed the widow there to do? (Feed Elijah)
What did Elijah ask the woman to do when he saw her gathering sticks? (To bring a cup of water)
What else did he ask for? (A bite of bread)
What did the widow say she was on her way to do? (Make her last meal from a handful of flour and little cooking oil)
What did Elijah tell her to do before her and her son ate? (Make the bread for him first instead)
What did he promise God would do if she fed him first? (God would always have flour and oil in the containers until the day God sends rain and the crops grow)
Did the widow obey? (Yes, she did what Elijah said)
Did God provide for them? (Yes, there was always enough flour and oil in the containers)
BIBLE STORY ACTIVITY
Activity
During the time of no rain, there was a drought and famine. There were people who had no water or food to eat. The widow did not have anything left but a little oil and flour to make bread for her and her son’s last meal. She trusted the Prophet Elijah when he gave her instructions to feed him first and then her family. Create your own rainstick. Take a cardboard tub of toilet paper or paper towel roll. Tap one side with masking or duct tape so there are no holes at the end of the roll. Have your chid decorate the tube with markers. Take a sheet of newspaper, aluminum foil or construction paper and crinkle into a long strip. Place the long paper into the tube right down the middle. Then, fill tube with rice about 1/4 of the way up the tube then tape the other end with the same type of tape.
Materials: cardboard tube (toilet paper or paper towel roll), newspaper, aluminum foil or construction paper, masking or duct tape, rice, markers
Alternate
The widow trusted God and He provided for her, her son and for Elijah during the remainder of the famine. Play a quick game of Scattegories by creating a list of things God provides starting with 1 letter that is chosen. Play this game of bingo, covering the things God provides as they are called out. first Player to find a row of 5 wins. Remind children that God provides all these things for us.
Materials: sheets of paper, pencils
Independent activity:
Use play dough to pretend you are the widow making bread. Practice taking a large piece of dough and knead it, dividing it into smaller balls and pressing it into bread shaped balls.
Materials: play dough
ARTS & CAFTS
CRAFT 1
Create a basket of bread. Cut a white paper plate in half to create a basket. Color the basket in a pattern using earth tone colors (brown, gray, cream, black). Then using a piece of contraction paper, cut out different shapes of bread, color them and place them in the basket. Glue the basket with the bread half out to a sheet of construction paper. On the paper write “I can trust the Lord to provide”
Materials: white paper plate, markers or crayons, white or brown plus another sheet of construction paper, scissors
Craft 2
Coloring page
Materials: printed coloring sheet, crayons
FOLLOW-UP
What did the widow give her last of?
Do you think it was easy for her to give of her last meal?
What is something you are willing to give your last of?
What would you want God to provide that would never end?
How did Elijah also trust God?
How did prophets trust God with their lives?
How has God already provided for you?
When has God shown His provision during a hard time of your life?
Practical Application at Home
God has a plan for us and He wants us to trust His plan just as Elijah and the widow trusted Him. Even in our bad situations when we don’t see a solution, God has a plan. Wee can be follow His plan by following the steps He lays out for us. The widow of Zarephath followed God’s steps by doing what Elijah asked of her. She had to trust God everyday because He gave her what she needed for that day, not for the month. Sometimes that is hard and we like to know all that is going to happen to us in the future. But we can practice trusting by believing that what God has for us is good even when it may not feel that way. We can hang on and just keep in step with Him.
What are some ways God has asked you to trust Him? Make a list of things you trust God with? When we remember who God has been trustworthy in the past, it helps us build faith to trust Him in the future.
Additional Resources
Outings to Reinforce Lesson
Enjoy the cool weather and take a nature walk. Observe the things God created and how they work together in His plan. What part do each of us play in God’s plan for us?