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.
Before class begins, hide the small object somewhere in your teaching space. Be prepared to describe the object to your students and give them clues, if necessary, to help them find it.
I am the Lord your God. I take hold of your right hand. I say to you, “Do not be afraid. I will help you.”
Isaiah 41:13
We all face difficulties in our lives. Some things may be so difficult that we doubt the skills and abilities God has equipped us with to face these challenges. But the Bible has a beautiful and encouraging message for us. We are strong when we put our hope in God. He walks beside us always and everywhere. He will not allow us to be defeated.
Think about the last time you faced a difficult situation. What was your response? Did you make a plan to rely on your own strength to fix the problem? Or did you turn to the One who is the source of your strength and confidence in times of difficulty? You can be confident in your own abilities, but only because you belong to God and He is with you always. When you place your confidence in who God says you are, you will gain confidence in who God has created you to be.
Encourage families to think of a time their children successfully did something that was difficult. This could be something they needed help with at first and then later did on their own. If possible, ask the families to praise God for this success and the future successes to come.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet the children as they arrive. Ask each child to find someone and tell him what the word “confident” means. When all of the children have entered the teaching space, invite them to sit at the front of the teaching space with you.
When you are confident, you know who you are and believe you are valuable. Let’s play a game to test your confidence. Somewhere in our space, I have hidden an object. In a moment, you will try to find the object. I will not tell you what the object is, but I will give you 3 clues to help you to find it.
Are you confident you can find the object? If so, raise your hand.
Pause to allow the children to respond.
Give the children 3 clues to help them find the object. The clues should be challenging enough that the children will not be able to find the object immediately. For example, if the object is hidden on the ground near a large rock, you might say, “It is near something bumpy and large. It is as low as the bottom of your foot. And it is someplace you would not usually walk.”
Give the children about 2 minutes to look for the object. If they need more help to find the object, give them 1 more clue and allow them to look for another minute. Regardless of whether the object has been found after 4 clues, pick up the object and bring it to the front of the space. Ask the children to come sit with you.
That was very challenging! Not knowing what you were looking for made it difficult to find the object. Sometimes, it can be difficult to do something that seems like it should be easy. If I had told you what the object was, you probably would have been very confident you would eventually find it. Not knowing what the object was made this game more challenging. When we face challenging situations in our own lives, it can be difficult to have confidence.
The Bible tells the true story of a man who had confidence even when things were difficult—his name was Joshua. You may remember that Joshua was chosen by Moses to be the next leader of the Israelites—God’s people. When Joshua became the leader of the Israelites, God told him to have courage. Listen to the source of Joshua’s courage:
If possible, read this verse directly from your Bible.
Joshua, no one will be able to oppose you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will never leave you. I will never desert you.
Joshua 1:5
If God said this to you, would you feel valued? Why or why not?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
When God said He would always be with Joshua, He was communicating that He valued Joshua. This would certainly make me feel confident! God told Joshua many times to have courage because He was with him. That is because God asked Joshua to do many good things he could only do with God’s help. God gave Joshua confidence to do God’s work.
Optional: If possible, share the images from The Action Bible.
Reminder: All resources are available for download at the end of this lesson.
God asked Joshua to lead His people into the land God had promised the Israelites. To do this, Joshua had to lead the people in many battles. The Bible tells the true story about a battle the Israelites had with the city of Ai. Before fighting with the people of Ai, Joshua sent spies to look at the city and decide how to fight the battle. When the spies returned, they told Joshua that there were not many people in the city and he would not need many soldiers to fight against them. So, Joshua sent only 3,000 soldiers to fight the battle.
Raise your hand if you think Joshua’s army won the battle.
Joshua and the Israelites lost the battle! In fact, the army of Ai chased the Israelites away from their city.
Do you think Joshua felt confident after losing this battle? Why or why not?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
The Bible does not tell us how Joshua felt, but I know I would not feel confident after losing a battle like that.
Joshua probably did not feel very confident. When he found out his army had not won the battle, the Bible tells us he was sad. He fell on the ground and spent the entire day with his face on the ground praying to God. Joshua asked God why He had allowed the Israelites to lose. He told God that he was afraid that their enemies would surround them on every side.
Have you ever felt afraid? If so, what made you feel afraid?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
When we are afraid, we often do not know what to do. Even when we are good at solving problems, our fear can make us lose confidence in what we are able to do.
God told Joshua the reason the Israelites lost the battle was because they had not obeyed Him. He told Joshua that He would be with them in battle if they continued to worship God. Then God said something to help Joshua:
Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. Go up and attack Ai. Take the whole army with you. I have handed the king of Ai over to you. I have given you his people, his city and his land.
Joshua 8:1
This time, God told Joshua exactly what to do. Joshua obeyed God and took his whole army to Ai. The Israelites won the battle and captured the king. After the battle, the Israelites left a pile of rocks to remind them what God had done. God showed He valued the lives of the Israelites as He helped them win the battle.
When we know we have value and we know who we are, we can be confident. Knowing God cares about us can help us to be confident. Listen to what God says in the Bible about His presence with us.
I am the Lord your God. I take hold of your right hand. I say to you, “Do not be afraid. I will help you.”
Isaiah 41:13
God values us and loves us. We can find confidence knowing God is with us. Here are a few ways we can have confidence even when we are in difficult situations.
You may sometimes face situations that are difficult. When this happens, you can remember that God is always with you and put your confidence in Him. God loves you more than you can ever imagine. He is always good and right and true, and His ways are always best. With His help and His strength, you can do things that are difficult.
During his days as the leader of the Israelites, Joshua left a lot of piles of rocks to remind the Israelites that God was on their side and that their confidence should always be in Him, even during difficult times. These rocks were like reminders to God’s people of what God had done.
Let’s build a pile of rocks to remind us that we can have confidence, too! Think about something difficult you may face or need to do in the next 2 weeks. This could be taking a test in school, being bullied by a child in your neighbourhood, or many other things. Now, think of 1 way you will try to have confidence the next time you do something difficult. Remember, we talked about many ways to have confidence, including:
In a moment, you will pick up a rock. As you think of a way you can have confidence during difficult times, you will place the rock down at the front of our space.
Give the children 2–5 minutes to take rocks and create a pile at the front of your teaching space. The children may think quietly to themselves or may whisper their ideas as they place their rocks down. Once all of the children have had an opportunity to place a rock on the pile, ask the children to stand and look at the monument they created.
When you experience something difficult, you can remember this pile of rocks. It represents the many ways you can feel confident: pray and ask God for help, think about things that you have done well, and focus on your skills and abilities.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give the children crayons and allow them 3–4 minutes to think of things that give them confidence and colour their stones.
Our memory verse this week reminds us that we can be confident in God’s plan for our lives.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
Jeremiah 17:7, NIV
Repeat the verse and actions 3 times. End class by saying this blessing, based on Psalm 31:24, over the children.
Blessing: May you be strong and confident knowing that God is with you. May you keep trying and turn to God when you need confidence to face your problems.
Lead the children 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.
