When Obedience is Hard

Posted on November 18, 2011 13:12 pm CST

When Obedience is Hard.

Lesson Text Numbers 20: 1-12

Fire Bible for Kids (NKJV) pages 187-188

Power for Life text on page 188

Items need for study.

Clear 2 liter bottle.
1 Cork that fits tightly inside the bottle.
Toilet paper
Lemon Juice or Vinegar (buy a bottle of it)
Baking soda (buy a small box of it)
Water
Scissors

The Setup (try this one before class)

Put some baking soda (1 to 2 teaspoons) into the center of a toilet paper square. Fold into a pouch that will fit into your 2 litter bottle (do not put in the bottle yet)
Pour Lemon Juice or Vinegar into the bottle until it is about an inch deep, this doesn’t need to be exact
Fill the bottle with water until it is about half way or a little higher but not up to the top.
Now push your baking soda pouch into the bottle and quickly put the cork into the top and stand back.
Cork will shoot out of the bottle. (if you add more baking soda and lemon juice or vinegar you will get a bigger pop)

Warning if you stick the cork in to hard then the gas may explode the bottle instead of push out the cork. Also the more gas you have the bigger effect. Use common sense and do this outside and don't hold the bottle or point it at any one. Treat as if it was a live firework. (I did this with my 4 and 7 year old and they loved it)

The Class - Start the class by asking questions. (Here are some ideas to get you going)

What does it mean to obey?
How do you obey your parents?
How do you obey God?
Do you get mad when you have to obey?
What do you do when you get mad, angry or frustrated?
Do you think of God at all when your mad, angry or frustrated?
Is it hard to obey when you are mad and frustrated?

Lets look in the bible and find out what Moses did when he was frustrated and found it hard to obey God at the same time.

Read the passage from the bible, then ask these questions

Why was Moses upset?
What did Moses do wrong?
What should have Moses done?
What did God want Moses to do?
What happened because Moses did not obey?
What should we do when we are angry?

If you are not outside then now it is time to go.

When we are upset we tend to as humans try and keep it under control so we suppress it just like Moses did.
The more and more that we suppress our emotions the more they are going to get out of control.

So this bottle is going to be Moses

As the Israelites complained, he got a little upset (Pour the lemon juice or vinegar in)
The Israelites where complaining a lot and about everything and they started yelling at Moses and he got more upset (Pour in the water).
Moses then went and prayed to God asking him for help and while praying he started thinking, “why don't they just trust in God?” and that made him more upset (place bottle on the ground away from class) and pour 1 to 2 tablespoons of baking powder and make the pouch to put in bottle while talking)
So God then told Moses to trust in him and go and speak to the rock. Did Moses talk to the rock? He as so wrapped up in his anger that he could not contain himself (place baking powder pouch and then quickly put the cork in the top of the bottle) He disobeyed God and hit the rock instead of speaking to it.
Moses anger was so strong that he blew his top and disobeyed. (The cork should be shot in the air before this statement)

This is what happens and why it is so hard to obey when we are angry. We try and obey and suppress the anger and it only builds until we can't take it any more.

So what happened to Moses?
What can you do instead of suppressing your anger?

If you have time you can do the experiment again and this time don't put the cork on and see what happens. It is ok to be mad, angry and frustrated but you should let it go and not let it build.

Now you can lead a discussion on ways to let go of anger so that even if they are angry they can still obey God. (some examples)

Pray until you are not angry
Walk until you are not angry
Talk about what is making you angry