During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
I trusted in the Lord even when I said to myself, “I am in great pain.”
Psalm 116:10
Pain comes in many forms. Our bodies can be sore after an injury, or they can ache when illnesses do not go away. When we experience grief and loss, our emotions can hurt and cause us to feel hopeless. So where is God when we ache, hurt, and grieve? He is right there beside us, comforting us and loving us.
Think of something that has caused you pain. Perhaps you have experienced the loss of a loved one. Maybe you live with a disease that causes your muscles or bones to ache, especially when it rains. Do you trust God with your pain? Let me ask again, do you really trust Him? It may be easier to feel angry when you are in pain than it is to feel close to the Lord. But He wants you to trust Him and give your worries to Him. He understands your pain, and He will help you through it. After all, who understands pain better than Jesus Christ? He suffered the pain of losing friends, the pain of being nailed to the cross, and the pain caused by the sins of the world. Trust Him with your pain!
Encourage families to talk to their children about times when members of the family experienced pain. Ask them to share how they endured the pain. Explain that God offers to help us when we hurt.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome the children as they come to class. Ask if there are any children who want to share 1 way they trusted God last week. Listen to their ideas as they enter the teaching space. Then, help the children to pair up for the first activity. Ask that boys pair up with boys and girls with girls, if possible. If there is a child left without a partner, there can be a group of 3 children. They will take turns playing the game.
Today, we will talk about trusting God with our pain. When we are in pain, it is easy to feel trapped and helpless. God is always there, even when we are in pain. To help us remember this, we will start with a game.
You and your partner will try to catch each other’s thumbs. Sit close enough to your partner to comfortably hold hands with her. Place your hand out in front of you in a fist. It must stay on the desk or floor. Give your partner a “thumbs up.” Hook your 4 curved fingers to your partner’s curved fingers. Your thumbs should still be sticking up.
Walk around your space to make sure all of the pairs have their hands together with their thumbs up. If any of the children are struggling to put their hands together correctly, take a moment to help them.
You have 1 minute to catch your partner’s thumb with your thumb. You must keep the bottom of your fist on the desk or floor. The first person in each pair to catch a thumb wins the game! You may only use your thumb to catch your partner’s thumb. You cannot use your other hand. Once you catch it, hold it down gently. You do not want to hurt your partner’s thumb! If your thumb is gets caught, say, “I can trust God!” to end the game. Ready? Begin!
Walk around and observe the game to be sure it is being played correctly. After 1 minute, tell the children the game is over. If time allows, you may choose to play the game 2–3 times.
I hope you enjoyed playing our thumb game! In the game, 1 partner’s thumb was trapped! Life can feel like that. You do not understand why painful things happen. Even if you do not understand it and even though it is difficult, you can trust God with your pain.
Let’s say that together quietly: “I can trust God, even when in pain.” Pain is not fun or exciting, so when you say this, say it quietly. Let’s say it again quietly: “I can trust God, even when in pain.” In this lesson, whenever I say, “God is the King. He is in control.” You say quietly, “I can trust God, even when in pain.” Let’s try this together.
Say, “God is the King. He is in control.” Lead the children in responding: “I can trust God, even when in pain.”
Pain comes in many ways. You can get hurt and feel pain in your body. You can also get your feelings hurt and that pain touches your emotions. Pain in your body or pain in your emotions can make you cry. When your body hurts, there are sometimes things you can do to make it feel better. Perhaps there is a bandage you can put on your wound to help it heal. Or, maybe there is a medicine you can take to help the pain go away.
Think for a moment about a time when your emotions hurt.
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
It is not always easy to know what to do when your emotions are hurt. You may want to run from it. Whether you experience pain in your body or pain in your emotions, pain can make it easy for you to become angry. You may feel angry because there is nothing you can do, or you may not have the energy you need to feel good about anything. It can be easy to lose hope when your body or heart are hurt.
God wants you to call out to Him for help because God is the King. He is in control.
Motion to remind the students to respond: “I can trust God, even when in pain.”
It is important to believe God is good, even if people hurt your emotions. It is important to believe God is good, even if your body is in pain. When you call to God for help, He will comfort you. These verses from the Bible are from a person who felt both types of pain. Even though he was hurting, he knew God was good.
Read these verses directly from your Bible.
The Lord takes care of those who are not aware of danger. When I was in great need, he saved me. I said to myself, “Be calm. The Lord has been good to me.”
Psalm 116:6–7
God is good. He loves us, and He knows us better than anyone else knows us, including ourselves. God created us. We may not always understand why things happen to cause us pain. But, it is in these times of pain that God shows us His love. God pulled the author of this psalm out of a painful and dangerous situation. God does not always take us out of painful situations, but He is always with us through them. Even if sad or bad things happen, God is the King. He is in control.
Motion to remind the students to respond, “I can trust God, even when in pain.”
The same person who talked about God’s goodness also trusted God with his pain. He said:
I trusted in the Lord even when I said to myself, “I am in great pain.”
Psalm 116:10
Many people wanted to hurt this person. Because of this, he was in great pain, but he trusted in the Lord. Pain is not an easy thing to go through. Sometimes, God can use difficult things like pain to help us to see Him. When we trust God with our pain, it can help us to focus on His love and goodness. We can feel less worried about our pain when we trust and believe that God is the King. He is in control.
Motion to remind the students to respond.
Pain in your body takes time to heal. Pain in your emotions takes time to heal. It is important to know and trust that God can use the pain to do good. Think about what Jesus did. Jesus died on a cross so that your sins could be forgiven. That was painful for Him. Because of the pain He suffered, you are able to be close to God. That is the good thing that God did with Jesus’ pain. Listen to what the Bible says:
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.
Romans 8:28a
You can believe the Bible, even if you do not understand it right now. You can believe that the Creator of the universe uses painful things for good, even if you do not understand how that could happen. God is the King. He is in control.
Motion to remind the students to respond.
Pain can be difficult to go through. No matter what happens, God is with you, and He will not leave you. God keeps His promises, and He is good. That is why you can trust Him. God loves you, and that is why you can trust Him. God is the King, He is in control.
Motion to remind the students to respond.
Now that we know why we can trust God with our pain, let’s try giving the worries that go with our pain to Jesus. Jesus is God’s only Son. Remember, Jesus died for our sins, and He suffered on the cross so that we could live with God in heaven. You can give your pain to Jesus because He loves you.
Close your eyes. Imagine yourself in a quiet and peaceful place. It is filled with beauty. This can be a place you have seen or a place you would like to visit. Now that you have found your peaceful place, you see that Jesus is with you in this place. Just enjoy His presence for a moment. He wants you to tell Him about your pain.
Give the children 30–45 seconds to respond. They may respond silently or out loud, but they are talking to Jesus, not you or the class.
Jesus wants you to know that He cares about this thing that has caused you so much pain. He offers to help. All you need to do is trust Him with your pain and all of the worries that it causes you.
Give the children 30–45 seconds to respond. They may respond silently or out loud, but they are talking to Jesus, not you or the class.
You thanked Jesus for His help. You may now open your eyes!
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give the children crayons and allow 3 minutes for them to draw and colour their pictures.
Whether or not you were able to trust Jesus with your pain and your worries, know that He wants to help you with this. Know that when painful things happen in your life, God is there with you and wants to help you. You can trust God. Our memory verse today reminds us that God always does what is right.
Show the Memory Verse poster if you are using it.
What the Lord says is right and true. He is faithful in everything he does.
Psalm 33:4
Clap to the rhythm of the words in the first half of the verse. Demonstrate these motions for the second part of the verse:
Repeat the words, rhythm, and motions with the children 3 times. End class by saying this blessing, based on Romans 8:28, over the children.
Blessing: May you know that the true and living God works all things, both good and bad, for the good of those who love Him.
Lead the students in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
