Elementary // Patience Week 1

Memory Verse:
“Yet I am confident I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord." Psalm 27:13-14 (NLT)

Definition

Patience: Trusting and waiting on God in all things

Teaching Truth

We can be patient because God’s timing is always best

Questions to Ask Your Child

READ GENESIS 39-41

1. What did Joseph ask the cupbearer to do after God helped him interpret the dream? (Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him when he returned to the king.)

2. How long did it take the cupbearer to remember to tell the king about Joseph? (2 years!)

3. Do you think it was hard for Joseph to trust God and wait patiently on God’s timing while he was stuck in prison? Why?

4. When is it hard for you to wait patiently?

Activity

Look up a yummy homemade bread recipe on the internet. Talk with your kids about how to bake a loaf of bread, or if you’re feeling really adventurous, find time this week to try your hand at a bread recipe with your kiddos! As you talk about or walk through the process of gathering the ingredients and the steps of the recipe, talk with your kids about how it’s similar to patiently waiting on God’s perfect timing, even when it doesn’t look like you want it to. Here are a few example questions to get you started, but feel free to come up with some of your own!

• Do you think it matters what order the steps of the recipe are in? Why? Why do you think it’s important to trust God with the order of all the things that happen in our lives?

• Which step do you think would be the hardest to have patience during? (Or which step was the hardest to wait patiently?) Is there any area in your life right now where it is hard to wait patiently on the Lord’s timing?

Before baking the bread, the recipe says to knead the dough for a while. Sometimes in life, God allows us to go through hard circumstances, just like we see in Joseph’s story. How do you think kneading the dough changes the result of the bread? (makes it light and airy when it’s baking instead of flat and tough – not as yummy!) How do you think God can use even hard situations for good in our lives?