Who’s in Control? - Proverbs Youth Sunday School Lesson

Brief: God gives us free will, but He controls what will happen.

(Printable Student Sheet)

 

Scripture: Proverbs 16:1, 9, 33; 19:21; 20:24; James 4:13-16

 

Intro Activity

Have one student walk out of the room.  While they are gone, have everyone else move seats. When the student reenters the room, wait until they take their cue from everyone.  They will probably sit in a new seat.

Ask the first student why they sat in a new seat. They will probably answer by saying 1) that’s what they thought they should do, or 2) someone had taken their seat.

Ask the students who changed seats why they chose the new seats that they did.  They will probably answer with 1) they wanted to go to the new seat, or  2) the teacher told them to move seats.

Point out that there were two reasons for each, one being what the student thought or did, and the other what the teacher told them to do or made them think.  Then, make the statement that this is how everything that we say or do works.  We might think something or do something, but God is always the one influencing us.  God is working behind the scenes and ultimately deciding what will happen.

 

Read Proverbs 16:1

Who are the two people acting in this verse?  What are they doing? 

A person plans out what they are going to say. God determines what the person actually says. So, here we have two reasons for what is said: 1) the person planning it out and 2) God deciding what they will say.

 

Read Proverbs 16:9

What is the person doing?  What is God doing? 

The person makes plans, but God directs their steps.  Again, two reasons for what a person does: 1) the person planning it out and 2) God deciding what will happen.

 

Read Proverbs 16:33

What is the person doing?  What is God doing? 

The person is rolling the dice, but God is determining what comes up.  Again, two reasons for what happens: 1) the person throwing the dice and 2) God deciding what it will be.

 

Read Proverbs 19:21

What is the person doing?  What is God doing? 

The person is making plans, but God decides what will actually happen.  Again, two reasons for what a person does: 1) the person planning it out and 2) God deciding what will happen.

If the people in these verses are planning what they’re going to do and what they’re going to say, and they’re the ones throwing the dice, but it’s always God that decides what’s going to happen, does that mean that we don’t have free will?

 

Read James 4:13-16

What was the person doing in these verses? 

Planning what they’re going to do.

 

Who would ultimately decide if what they’re planning happens?

God. It’s the same thing in the Proverbs verses. We can plan to do something or say something, but if that’s not what God’s will is for us, it isn’t going to happen. His will is what will prevail, not ours.

Imagine I put you in a room with a door and a window. After a while, you decide you want to leave the room. You have two choices on how to leave, right? You can leave through the door or through the window. You decide to leave through the door. So, you walk to the door and turn and pull on the handle. But the door’s locked. I locked it from the outside. So, now what do you have to do if you want to leave the room? Go through the window.

Did I take away your free will by locking the door? No. You still had free will. You decided to leave through the door. It’s just that your free will decision didn’t work out. My plan for how you would leave the room worked out.

God gives us free will. We can plan all we want. It just might not happen that way. God’s will is what will ultimately happen.

 

Read Proverbs 20:24

Describe a time when you’ve wondered how you got to where you were in life. What do you think God’s plan was for bringing you to that point?

Will Power! The Power to Fight Temptation! - Proverbs Youth Sunday School Lesson

Brief: It’s wise to exercise self-control.

(Printable Student Sheet)

 

Scripture: Proverbs 23:29-35; 20:1; 23:1-5; 25:16, 28; 16:32

 

Read Proverbs 23:29-35

According to this passage, what happens when people drink too much alcohol? 

It makes people lose their perception of reality. You can get addicted.  It also says that people get bruises when they’re drunk and that people are hitting them. Let’s find out why.

 

Read Proverbs 20:1

According to this verse, what else can happen when we drink? 

Sometimes, alcohol makes people angry or irritable and can cause them to get into fights more easily.

 

Read Proverbs 23:1-5

What two things are these verses warning us against? 

Wanting good food and lots of money, gluttony and greed.

 

Why does God want us to avoid these two things? 

God knows that our wanting to get rich or wanting to dine expensively is distracting to what life is really all about. God has designed life to be all about having a relationship with Him and loving each other. Making too much out of money or how good our food is makes an idol out of those things.

 

Read Proverbs 25:16

What are some good things that we can have too much of?

Too much of one kind of food will make our body will suffer. Focusing too much on one aspect of our lives will make the other aspects suffer. We need balance.

So, instead of drinking too much or eating too much or trying to get more and more money or spending too much time on one thing, what should we do?

 

Read Proverbs 16:32

Being a warrior and being able to conquer a city is pretty tough.  But who does this verse say is even stronger than that? 

The person who can control himself is even stronger than someone who is incredibly strong physically. It’s about self-control.

 

Read Proverbs 25:28

What are a city’s walls used for?  

The walls of a city are for protection and defense. 

 

What happens when the walls are broken down?  

If the walls are broken down, then the enemy can come in and conquer the inhabitants or kill them.

 

How is this like us when do not exercise self-control?

If we don’t keep our defenses up, our self-control and will-power, then it will be easy for us to give in to those temptations of drinking too much or eating too much or wanting too much money or getting obsessed over something or giving in to anger. We need to have self-control to fight off those temptations.

Wait for It... - Proverbs Youth Sunday School Lesson on Patience

Brief: God calls us to be patient with others and to overlook offenses.

(Printable Student Sheet)

 

Scripture: Proverbs 19:2; 27:3; 15:18; 19:11; 20:22

Read Proverbs 19:2

What does it mean “to have zeal without knowledge”?  

To be excited about something before you have all the information. It’s the same thing as being hasty, being too quick to do something or to make a decision, before you have all the facts you need.

 

Has having zeal without knowledge ever caused you to make a mistake? When?

If you make a decision too quickly, you’ll probably end up making the wrong decision. So, rather than rushing into action or jumping to conclusions, this verse is saying that we should try to have a little more patience, try to slow down a little, and find out the best way to do something or to deal with a situation.

Today, I want us to talk about having patience with difficult people instead of being too hasty with them and losing our temper.

 

Read Proverbs 27:3

What does it mean to say that “provocation by a fool is heavier than both” stone and sand?  

This verse is saying that whereas one can carry stones and sand, it is much harder to bear being provoked by someone.  If someone is irritating us, it’s really hard not to lose our temper with them. God knows that. But God also knows that losing our temper with someone is not the best way to deal with someone.

 

Read Proverbs 15:18

What happens when we lose our temper with someone? 

We lose our temper and then, they lose their temper, and the fight just gets worse.

 

Can you think of a time when you got angry and made a situation worse? Summarize the situation.

 

When has being patient helped solve a situation?

If we get angry, the problem just escalates, but if we remain calm and exercise our patience, then that will also help others to calm down.  As Christians, we are called to bring peace and to help solve problems in the best possible way, which can only be done by remaining calm.

 

Read Proverbs 19:11

Instead of getting angry about something, what is this verse saying we should do? 

Overlook the offense. Ignore it. Don’t worry about it. Just move on with your life.

Most stupid things that people do to you aren’t worth getting upset about. And if we can overlook those things, if we can ignore and forget about them instead of arguing or fighting about them or losing our temper and making the situation worse, then it will be to our glory. We will be the person taking the higher road.

 

Read Proverbs 20:22

What is this verse telling us we should do when someone wrongs us? 

Don’t worry about it. Give it to God and let God take care of it.

Diligence, Diligence, is What I Long For - Proverbs Youth Sunday School Lesson

Brief: God has created the world in such a way that if we work hard in any area of life, we will be rewarded.

(Printable Student Sheet)

 

Scripture: Genesis 2:15; Proverbs 10:4; 12:11; 22:13; 24:30-34; 26:15

 

Read Proverbs 10:4

What is diligence?  

Diligence is working hard, to keep trying to attain your goals, to “give it all you’ve got,” to have endurance.

 

Read Genesis 2:15

Why is the message to be diligent in the Bible?  Does God really care if we work hard or not?

God made mankind to work. He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden to take care of it. He has made us and our world in such a way that if we want something, we generally have to work for it. Grades, skills, finances, relationships, spirituality. Everything takes work.

 

Read Proverbs 12:11

Solomon is contrasting farming, working the land, with chasing fantasies. Why is “working the land” so much better than “chasing fantasies”? 

Working the land is solid.  The land is there.  You know that if you do things right, there will be a crop.  Whereas nothing is a sure thing, it is as close to a guarantee that we have.

 

How does this verse apply to us if we don’t “work the land”?  

If we work hard in school, we know that we’ll get good grades.  If we work hard at sports or playing an instrument, we know that we’ll get good at it. If we go to work for a company and perform our job duties, they will pay us. If we work hard at our relationships with our spouses, we will have good marriages. 

 

What are some of the fantasies that we could chase? 

Chasing fantasies might be something like dropping out of school to start your own business.  Or thinking that instead of going to work, you can just play the lottery or invest in the stock market. Or get-rich-quick schemes. “Work 2 hours a day! From home! And earn $5,000 a week!”

 

Read Proverbs 22:13

What is the “sluggard” doing in this verse?  

Making excuses. He doesn’t want to go outside and go to work, so he’s making up excuses not to.

 

How do we do the same thing?

We might say that something is too hard. We can’t work in school or at a certain subject because we’re not good at that kind of stuff. Other times, we say we shouldn’t work that hard at our jobs because no one notices anyway. Maybe we say we shouldn’t work hard at being a Christian because we keep messing up anyway.

God’s promise says that if we work at something and continue to work at something, being diligent, we will be rewarded. Things will improve.

 

Read Proverbs 24:30-34

According to this passage, what is one way people become poor? 

By being lazy.

Because the sluggard in this passage hasn’t been “working the land,” he’s poor. It’s the same thing with us. If we’re not working at something, if we’re not diligent in some area of our lives, that part of our life is going to be in poor conditions. If we’re not actively working on our spiritual life, it’s going to fall into ruin. If we had a skill and then, we stop using that skill for a while, we’ll lose it. We need to work at things to keep from becoming “poor” in that area.

 

Read Proverbs 26:15

Why do you think this verse says that the “sluggard” already has his hand in the dish?  What does it mean when it says that he won’t bring the food back to his mouth? 

Work or some way to make money is available to most people. They have their hand in the dish.  All they have to do is take advantage of the opportunities that are around them. All they have to do is bring the food to their mouth.  Another example is that a  good education is available to you. All you have to do is take advantage of it. Spiritually, God’s Word is there for you. All you have to do is invest some time in it.

Bring your hand back to your mouth. Be diligent, and you will be rewarded.