On The Trail Lesson 4

Lesson 4 On the Trail
It’s very easy to worry and complain about the things we need. Our goal for today was for your child to learn that when they have a need, they shouldn’t worry or complain. Instead, they should thank God for what He’s already done for them and then ask him to meet their need.
On stage we told the story of God providing for the Israelites in the wilderness found in Exodus 15:22 – 17:7. On three separate occasions the Israelites have a need. Once they have a need for food and twice they have a need for water. However, instead of being thankful for everything God had done for them already, they complained and whined to Moses. They accused
him of bringing them out to the wilderness to die. Moses, however, didn’t whine and complain. He prayed to God about their needs and God provided for them every time. Moses demonstrated the proper way to present our needs to God.
During our large group skit, Tex had some trouble determining the difference between wants and needs. He was hungry but he didn’t want the beans that Cookie made, he wanted cookies. He didn’t want the water that Cookie gave him, he wanted soda. He whined and complained until Cookie explained to him the difference between wants and needs. Cookie also explained
the importance of being thankful that his needs are being met. Tex apologized and started being thankful. Just like Tex we need to be thankful to God for meeting our needs.
Every element of today’s lesson was geared toward teaching your children that when they have a need they should pray to God about it and they should be thankful for what God has already done for them.