Finding God’s Path

Time

30 minutes

Description

This object lesson teaches about the challenges involved in seeking God’s will as we do our daily walk.

Materials

• Masking tape
• 150 note cards
• A marker or something to write with
• Answer Keys for Facilitator and Volunteers (attached)
• (Optional) A prize for the winner

Preparation

· Using the masking tape, mark off a grid with five columns and 20 rows (see Answer Keys at the end of this lesson for an illustration).

o If you have access to a tiled floor, you can just use the tiles as your grid.

· Number twenty of your note cards 1-20. (Do this twice.)

· Letter five of your note cards A to E. (Do this twice.)

· Tape these next to the outside borders of your grid. The numbers are for the rows, and the letters are for the columns. (See the Answer Keys for an illustration.)

· Place a large “X” on 25 of the remaining note cards. (Make sure that the ink doesn’t show through the paper.)

· Write the word “SIN” on 20 of the note cards. (Make sure that the ink doesn’t show through.)

· Using the “Answer Key – Facilitator’s Copy” page as a model, tape the 25 “X” note cards and the 20 “SIN” note cards face down in the appropriate spaces of the grid. (Only tape one edge, so that it is easy for kids to lift the note card and look for the “X.”)

· Tape the rest of the blank note cards face down in the empty grid spaces. Make sure that they look like the marked note cards so that kids will not be able to tell from looking at them which have an “X” and which do not.

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

· “As we do our best to follow the Lord on the path that He has planned for us, it is often difficult to know what His will is and what next step He would have us take.”

· “One of the things that can help us is getting advice from godly people, like your parents or leaders in the church.”

· “We are going to do an activity that will help us understand this way of seeking God’s will in our lives.”

· “This grid represents the path that God has set before you.” (Point out the grid.)

· “Each square/rectangle in the grid represents a step that you could take.”

· “There are three types of steps indicated by the note cards that are taped face down in each space:

o Some of the note cards have an “X” on them. This is God’s best path for you, where you will receive His full blessing.

o Some of the note cards are blank. This is an okay step to take, but it’s not God’s best for you. You can still experience His blessing, but it won’t be as strong.

o Some of the note cards have the word, “SIN,” written on them. This is a step that leads you to do something you shouldn’t.”

· “To help you make the right decision which step to take, you will be able to get advice each turn from one godly person.”

· “I need four volunteers to help me by being our godly people.” (Select volunteers, and share the following instructions. If you don’t have enough kids to use four volunteers, you can give a volunteer more than one Answer Key and have him/her use their best judgment when giving advice.)

· “Each of these four volunteers is a godly person in your life – someone you can go to for advice about what the next step in your walk should be.”

· “Before you take a step, you can pick one (only one) and ask for his/her advice.”

· “Each of them will have an Answer Key for the grid.” (Hand out a different Answer Key to each volunteer, and ask them not to let anyone see it – not even the other volunteers.)

· “Their Answer Keys are all different. No one has all the correct answers, so who you choose to get godly advice from will be important.”

· “When you ask one of the volunteers for their advice, they will tell you what space they think you should step to using the column letter plus the row number. For example, ‘Space A-3.’”

· “If they don’t have any information for you on their sheet, they will simply say, ‘I don’t know,’ and you will have to guess which space to step onto.”

· “Once you touch a space in the grid, your choice is final.”

· “You should bend down and flip up the note card so that you can see what is on the other side.”

o “If you step on a space with an “X” note card, you get to go again.”

o “If you step on a space with a blank note card, you get to hold your place, but you cannot go again until everyone else has had a try.”

o “If you step on a space with a “SIN” note card, you lose your turn and have to start over after everyone else has had a try.”

· “Leave the note card flipped over so that others will benefit from your experience.”

· “The first person to step on the “X” space on Row 20 wins! (Blank spaces will not count as a win.)”

· “What questions do you have?” (Answer any questions. Then start the activity.)

Debrief Questions

Once the activity is complete, award a prize for the winner if you would like. Then, gather the kids and debrief with the following questions before ending the lesson.

o “How was this activity like trying to figure out God’s will for your life?”

o “How did you feel when you asked a godly person (volunteer) for advice, and he/she couldn’t give you any?”

§ “How is this like real life?”

o “How did you feel when you asked a godly person (volunteer) for advice, and he/she gave you the wrong answer?”

§ “How is this like real life?”

o “How did wrong answers make you feel about asking that person for advice the next time around?”

o “How do you know when to trust people’s advice and when not to?”

o “Why do some people have good advice to share about some things but not about others?”

o “What difference would it have made if you had been able to ask more than one godly person for advice before you took a step?”

o “What lessons can you take away from this activity?”

Answer Key – Facilitator’s Copy

	A	B	C	D	E
1	Sin	X		Sin		1
2			X	Sin		2
3			Sin	X	Sin	3
4			X	Sin		4
5			X	X	X	5
6					X	6
7		Sin	Sin	X		7
8		X	X	Sin		8
9	X					9
10	X	Sin	Sin			10
11	X	X	X	Sin		11
12				X		12
13			Sin	X	Sin	13
14			X			14
15			Sin	X		15
16					X	16
17				X	Sin	17
18			X	Sin		18
19			X			19
20		Sin	Sin	X	Sin	20
	A	B	C	D	E

Answer Key – Volunteer #1

	A	B	C	D	E
1		X				1
2			X			2
3				X		3
4			X			4
5						5
6						6
7						7
8						8
9						9
10						10
11	X	X				11
12						12
13				X		13
14			X			14
15				X		15
16						16
17						17
18						18
19						19
20						20
	A	B	C	D	E

Answer Key – Volunteer #2

	A	B	C	D	E
1		X				1
2			X			2
3				X		3
4			X			4
5			X	X	X	5
6					X	6
7				X		7
8						8
9						9
10						10
11						11
12				X		12
13				X		13
14						14
15				X		15
16						16
17						17
18						18
19						19
20						20
	A	B	C	D	E

Answer Key – Volunteer #3

	A	B	C	D	E
1		X				1
2			X			2
3				X		3
4				X		4
5				X		5
6				X		6
7				X		7
8			X			8
9			X			9
10			X			10
11			X			11
12						12
13				X		13
14				X		14
15						15
16					X	16
17				X		17
18			X			18
19			X			19
20				X		20
	A	B	C	D	E

Answer Key – Volunteer #4

	A	B	C	D	E
1		X				1
2			X			2
3				X		3
4						4
5						5
6						6
7						7
8						8
9						9
10						10
11			X			11
12				X		12
13						13
14						14
15						15
16					X	16
17						17
18			X			18
19						19
20						20
	A	B	C	D	E

Answer Key – Statistics

This page is just for the facilitator’s information and may be useful during the debrief. It shows how many of the “godly advisors” had correct and incorrect answers for each space.

	A	B	C	D	E
1		4				1
2			4			2
3				4		3
4			2	1		4
5			1	2	1	5
6				1	1	6
7				2		7
8		0	1			8
9	0		1			9
10	0		1			10
11	1	1	2			11
12				2		12
13				3		13
14			1	1		14
15				2		15
16					2	16
17				1		17
18			2			18
19			1			19
20				1		20
	A	B	C	D	E