Here is a 20- to 30-minute lesson plan that highlights the following lesson objective: “Understand that sometimes God allows difficulties and hardships in one’s life as a test of one’s faith, to cause one to draw closer to Him for help and support, which results in a happier life; learn the importance of trusting God despite difficult circumstances,” and “Learn how to trust even when God’s promises don’t seem to be fulfilled; understand the principle of Romans 8:28.” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: Faith-2d, 2e)

Read “Mountain Rescue.”

Ask your children what the conditions were for the boy to be rescued—the main one being, of course, putting his trust in Jesus. But also, he needed to listen to Jesus’ instruction versus being distracted by circumstances, etc. See how many you can find together.

Discuss together how sometimes even when you put your trust in God, things can seem to go wrong. The boy in the story being lifted up by the rope almost fell, but in the end, Jesus came through for him—just as He promised. A good discussion point for this would also be how sometimes it may seem like things don’t work out, or Jesus doesn’t come through for you in the way you had expected, because the solution to the problem doesn’t always go the way you think it should. This is where trusting God takes more faith, knowing that God knows and His plan is always superior to your own.

Watch “I Will Trust You.

Read “Put Your Full Weight on God.”

Discuss with your children ways you can put your full weight on God. Talk about how when you do put your full weight on God, that’s when the element of trust really kicks in. Your child may wonder what is meant by putting our full weight on God; if so, take this time to discuss the benefits of trusting God. For example, some of the benefits of trusting in God are the following:

• it brings peace to your heart,
• it helps you remain calm when it’s easy to freak out,
• it helps you set aside the things that you can’t really take care of,
• and gives you time to focus on those things that you can take care of, etc.

See how many more additional benefits you and your children can come up with.

End with reading these verses found in this “Crazily Cool Card Set: The Nature of God.”