The Battle Belongs To The Lord
An Activity To Teach That When Our Feelings Overwhelm Us, God’s Word Gives Peace and Direction
Objective: To Teach That When our feelings overwhelm us, God’s Word gives peace and direction.
Bible Reference:
‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. – 2 Chronicles 20:15
Introduction:
Before starting, share/show this video to the kids
Continue by saying –
“Do you know that for your whole life, you are going to experience feelings that are a lot like the ones we have on a roller coaster.
You might ace a report card and feel exultant JOY , or your doctor might tell you that you grew two inches since your last checkup, and that could make you feel either HAPPY or STRANGE, or even FRUSTRATED. You could accidentally hit a younger kid with a ball and feel SHAME, or you might find out that another friend has been bad-mouthing you behind your back and feel ANGER, or you might be hearing some negative news about coronavirus and feel FEAR.
It’s not wrong to feel these things, but sometimes these feelings start controlling the way we act or think.”
Then continue the discussion by directing the discussion towards the Bible
“In 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, we see king Jehoshaphat who did not let his feelings control him. He knew God is greater than his feelings. So when Jehoshaphat learned that there were three large armies ready to invade their land, this was his BATTLE PLAN
He and His army worshiped and praised God:
1. Before the battle when they could have been scared
2. On the way to the battle when they could have been uneasy
3. After the battle when they could have easily been proud of the win
Because He rested His eyes on God’s promise for them –> The Battle belongs to the Lord.
So, the fantastic news here is that we don’t just have to sit back passively and let our feelings control us. These big emotions are just reminders to us to go to God’s Word in those moments.
God’s Word is full of instructions for every situation and advice for every decision. There is an example of every single human feeling in the Bible. And you know what?
The best, simplest, fastest way is to turn to the Bible when we’re overwhelmed!
Activity:
Once the context is set, walk them through the activity. You could say –
So here’s what we’re going to do:
1. Ask your mom or dad to show you the plethora of smileys on the phone keyboard.
2. Each smiley helps display an emotion or a feeling.
3. Pick a handful of your favourite ones and draw each one on a piece of chart.
4. Cutout the smiley and attach it to a popsicle stick or any stick. See images below for reference.
5. Now open your Bible and look for one verse that either defines or talks about the emotion! If you picked up , try finding a verse that talks about why anger is not such a good feeling to harbour. If you picked up, you could find a verse that shows us how to overcome fear. If you picked up, find a verse that talks about joy or happiness.
4. Write this verse behind each smiley that you create.
5. Collect your smiley popsicles and put them into a small bottle or a jar. Write “God is greater than my feelings” on the jar and keep it on your table.
6. Next time you feel any kind of emotion – anger, joy, pride, just pick up the appropriate popsicle and quickly read the verse behind it. It’ll help you handle the feeling with a Christ like attitude and make you a more graceful Christian.
Ask the kids to write the verses on/behind the smileys they create. Encourage them to put their creations in the “God is greater than my feelings” jar and place it on their table.
