YEA Lesson Library
Simple Formula
About This Lesson
Using the grumbling of the Israelites as an example of what NOT to do when things aren’t going well, this lesson teaches to ask for forgiveness of sins, to get right with God, and then ask for His help.
Scriptures
Exodus 17:1-7
2 Chronicles 7:12-16
Psalm 107:17
Psalm 107:17-22
Psalm 139: 23-24
Isaiah 59:1-8
Ezekiel 18:23-24
Philippians 4:6-7
Words to Know
WAILED - to express dissatisfaction plaintively
LOGIC - science of the formal principles of reasoning
The Lesson
It's tough being a teenager. Your mom keeps saying that you've got to make the grade. It seems like everyone you know is trying to be so cool. When you try it, you may just end up thinking you've been a fool. You wake up every morning, and when you stare into the mirror, you see your face. It looks the same as it did yesterday, but you didn't like it any better then. You want to be good-looking, but you're stuck with the face and body you have. You may begin to fear that you just don't fit in - especially when your friends find out that you are still a virgin or don't take drugs. Sometimes you may get so low that you wonder what to do, where to go, and who you can talk to.
The Israelites had problems too. It was tough in the desert, especially when there was no water. Finding watering holes was important out there in the desert. A person can’t last long without water. It’s essential to life. Here were more than a million people making their way from the Sin Desert to Rephidim. They arrived and found that there was no water - zilch, zero, none! How do you think they felt? Was this a little more serious than not fitting in with the crowd you hand out with? What do you think the Israelites did?
If anything, they were more disappointed than when they arrived in the Sin Wilderness just a month after departing Egypt. Do you remember how they accused Moses, Aaron, and even God of trying to starve them to death? This time their moaning turned into growling and complaining to Moses. "Give us water!' they wailed.
How many times would God have to perform miracles to meet their needs before they would trust Him? What would it take for them to learn that the first thing they should do is to get on their knees and ask God to provide water for them? Why do we think complaining, wailing, moaning, and growling is an effective way to get God's attention and the help we need?
Think about it. If your little sibling wanted a glass of water, but was too small to reach the faucet, would you react better if he came to you and said, "Could I please have a drink of water?" than if he demanded you give him a glass of water? What if his first course of action was to throw a temper tantrum with loud crying, moaning, and growling? How would you react to that? Why do we think God will react differently than we do to demands, temper tantrums, and complaining?
The Israelites became even more aggressive with their requirements. "Why did you ever take us out of Egypt?" they demanded. "Why did you bring us here to die with our children and cattle too?" In Ezekiel 18:23 the question is asked and answered, “'Do you think I like to see the wicked die?’ asks the Lord. ‘Of course not! I only want him to turn from his wicked ways and live.’" The Israelites were God's chosen people and He certainly didn't take pleasure in their death. After being in slavery for 430 long years, He freed them using miracle after miracle. So how in the world did they conclude that God brought them out into the wilderness to kill them? That simply doesn't follow good logic.
They were so worked up, so agitated that Moses feared they would stone him. He cried out to God for help. He heard Moses' request and came to his rescue. "Take the elders of Israel with you and lead the people out to Mt. Horeb. I will meet you there at the rock. Strike it with your rod - the same one you struck the Nile with- and water will come pouring out, enough for everyone!' Moses did as he was told, and the water gushed out!”
How difficult was that? Why didn't the Israelites try it first? The formula is simple. Go to God and make your request and believe He will answer.
When life seems tough for you and you begin to fear that you just don't fit in - especially when your friends find out that you are still a virgin or don't take drugs, what do you do? Do you go into a fit of depression and begin to moan and complain? Do you get so low that you wonder what to do, where to go, and who you can talk to? What should be the first thing you do? Who should you go to first? What is the Simple Formula we've just discussed?
Okay, so you've tried praying, and you think it doesn't work. Why? Isaiah 59:1, 2 says, "LISTEN NOW! THE Lord isn't too weak to save you. And he isn't getting deaf! He can hear you when you call! But the trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you and will not listen anymore." Well, what do you do now?
2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us, "If my people will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. I will listen, wide awake, to every prayer made in this place."
Then if God has turned His face from you because of your sins, how do you know which one? Any sin. Psalm 139:23-24 gives you another Simple Formula. Just get on your knees and pray this prayer: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out any thing you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life."
Just think how different things could have been for the Israelites had they followed this Simple Formula. We can't do anything about the Israelites' problem today. But we can have an enormous impact on our problems and attitude if we'll follow this Simple Formula. What are you going to do about it the next time you think it’s tough being a teenager?
Student Prayer
Gracious Father,
You loved the Israelites and wanted to give them every good thing. But their attitude was often rotten. Help me to follow the Simple FormulaI learned in this lesson and to get on my knees and ask your help in searching my heart. Grant me the willingness to always repent of my sins and look to you.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
Daily Devotions
Sunday - Exodus 17:1-7
Monday - Ezekiel 18:23-24
Tuesday - 2 Chronicles 7:12-16
Wednesday - Psalm 139:23-24
Thursday - Psalm 107:17-22
Friday - Isaiah 59:1-8
Saturday - Philippians 4:6-7
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Tell the story in this lesson.
2. Explain the Simple Formula for handling disappointments and difficult situations God’s way.
Topics & Themes
Adversity
Consequences of Sin
Grumbling
Miracles
Peer Pressure
Prayer
Rock
Sin
Trusting God
Water
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA Students' and Teacher's books, attendance and memory verse charts, songbook, butcher paper, markers, prize
How to Teach This Lesson
Greet the students warmly. Open the class with prayer. Explain that again today the students will teach this lesson by drawing the scenes in it. Divide the class into four equal parts and assign a team leader for each group. Let the team leaders pick one of assignments you wrote on papers. Give every student a marker. Explain that they will have about 25 to 30 minutes to draw their scenes. When time is up, vote on the best scene and give the prize to the winner. Have students return to their seats.
Debrief - Ask: How much better do you think you will remember this portion of the Bible that you have drawn than you would if you had only read it? What was the hardest thing to draw? Why do you feel that way? How did you feel about the Israelites' demands to Moses? How did you feel about Moses fearing they would stone him? What would have been a better way for the Israelites to voice their complaints? Why do you think this would have worked better?
Trying to kill them - How valid do you think the Israelites' complaint was that God was trying to kill them? What reasons can you give to show God loved them too much to do that? Ask a student to read Ezekiel 18:23. If God doesn't rejoice in the death of the wicked, how much less would He want to kill His chosen people? How did God show them He was not trying to kill them?
Application - What should you do when you encounter a difficult time in your life? What will you do differently than the Israelites did? What if God doesn't answer you immediately when you pray and ask Him to solve your problem? Ask a student to read 2 Chronicles 7:14. How can you know if you're overlooking sins in your life that you should repent of? Ask a student to read Psalm
139:23. What are you going to do differently the next time you encounter a difficult time in your life where you want to blame God?
Teacher-Directed Activity
Take up the papers the students wrote before class for their Activity. They should have written about a situation that no one in our class will know about, where they showed a bad attitude when things didn't go as they thought they should. Tell them not to put their name on the paper. Shuffle the papers and pass them out for a different student to read them. Discuss what would have been God's way to handle each situation.
REACH Activity
Memory Verse Spotlight: Psalm 107:17
Look up the words “transgression” and “iniquities.” Write down the Hebrew words and their meaning. Do they mean the same thing? Then find three other Scriptures where these words are used.
This is an example of parallelism where a synonym is used in a couplet. It helps to define each word in the context. There are many examples of this literary device in Psalms. See if you can find another one. Write it down in your Bible notebook and share it with your family.
Where in the World? Mt. Horeb
Add Mt. Horeb, Massah, and Meribah to the map you started for Lesson One. Continue the notes in the key which cite what happened at each place.
They Did What Back Then? Testing God
Numbers 14:22-24 says that the Israelites disobeyed God and tested Him ten times. Can you find the ten separate instances that God is citing? Write them down with scriptural references.
Making It Mine: When God Says No
Your YEA lesson cites Isaiah 59:1-2; 2 Chronicles 7:14; and Psalm 139:23-24. If you are experiencing something very difficult, have you gone to God in prayer? Have you repented of your sins and have stopped doing them? If you answer yes to both of these questions, you know you have been forgiven. What then? What if the difficult situation isn’t because of a sin you have committed? What do you do then? Job hadn’t done anything to warrant the difficulties he was enduring. Remember God brought Job to Satan’s attention - twice! - and said that Job was upright and blameless. Similarly, Jesus was innocent. He had never committed a sin, and yet Jesus was tortured and crucified for each person. So when you have done what you can to be living your life in a way that pleases God, and you’re still in the midst of trouble, trust God. Just be still and trust Him. Is that easy? No. It is very hard to suffer. But the witness that you are to people around you when you suffer, but you praise God anyway, is enormous.
Worldview Collisions: Asking in Jesus’ Name
Read John 14:13-17. What is the limiting factor in this passage? What is it you must do if you going to get what you ask for? You have to ask in Jesus’ name. What does that mean? Some people believe that means that if you literally say “in Jesus’ name” at the end of your prayer, you will get whatever it is that you asked for. You just need two or three gathered in His name and in agreement that God should give you the answer you want.
Is that what the Bible says? Read 1 John 5:14-15; Isaiah 59:2; and Proverbs 28:9.
Why would God give you what you are asking for if you are not obeying Him? Why would you expect to continue in open rebellion to His ways and yet get blessings from Him? But if you are dedicated to following God, does that mean He’s going to give you what you want if three of you are in agreement? Not necessarily. Three people gathered together still do not understand the complexity of God’s plan. There’s nothing wrong with asking. And God may answer. The effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16). The problem I have with the first viewpoint is that it sounds like you can force God to do whatever you want as long as three of you are in agreement that it should be done.
Write about this in your Bible notebook.
Questions
As you’re working through the YEA lesson, Daily Devotionals, doing the activity, or reading the Bible, be sure to write down any questions you have. That way you’ll remember to ask someone. Also remember to share the really interesting things you’re learning with family and friends.
Song
" Perfect Heart" is on page 3 of The Group Songbook.
Closing Prayer
Ask the students to form a circle and hold hands. Ask for a volunteer to lead in prayer asking for God's help to handle each difficult situation in life God’s way.
Printable Pages
