Family Blueprint Week #11

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(Index cards and take out the trash instructions going amiss teach us with Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and Isaac to wait on God’s plan.)  

The Lord gave us the blueprint of His Word to architect our family on Jesus Christ.  

Going through the Bible with your family…  

Weekly Scripture:
Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-21  

Story:
“Ishmael and Isaac”  

Application:
God’s ways bring happiness, but trying to follow our own ways brings confusion.  

Summary: 
Abraham was 100 years old when Sarah gave birth to their son Isaac (meaning laughter). After Isaac was weaned, Abraham threw a great feast in celebration. During the feast Sarah saw Ishmael, the son of Hagar, mocking Isaac. Sarah told Abraham to send away Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham was troubled and prayed about it. The Lord told Abraham to listen to the voice of his wife. So the next day Abraham gave Hagar water and bread and sent her with Ishmael out to the desert with the promise from God that He would establish Ishmael as a nation, but that through Isaac was to be the promised lineage.  

Focus: 
That the children will come to realize that the path of God is better than any substitute we can come up with. We must be patient and wait on Him for His timing and His way!  

Finding Christ:
The conflict between Isaac and Ishmael is the same type of conflict between the flesh and spirit. Isaac represents the sacrificial son. The mockery of Ishmael towards Isaac is called persecution in Galatians 4:29. The flesh lusts against the Spirit, mocking it and persecuting it. Galatians 5:17   

Live the Lesson: 
For this family time we are going to make up some instruction cards. Figure out a task. Such as a step by step process of taking out the trash. Or you could make it a step by step of preparing a bowl of cereal. Anyhow make sure the first two steps, each written out on index cards are involved enough to make this effective. Without telling the children what the task is…ask them to write the third step for the task. If you have more than one child, have them write the next steps as well. Do not let one child know what the other has written for their step.  

Now take out index cards 1 & 2. Follow them, such as (1) go to the trash can. (2) Lift out the trash. Now follow their third step with the bag of trash, which may be something such as “Brush the tangles out” or “Move the chairs away from the table.” Make sure to include your “item” in these directions. Such as brushing the bag of trash with a look of confusion on your face. Or putting the bowl on one of the chairs as you move the chair away from the table.  And so on. While this may turn out very funny, it is also very effective.  

Explain to your children after the task and the laughs quiet down…God knows ALL the details of our task He has assigned us. He has each step planned. Just because we had not yet seen index card #3 did not mean it did not exist. Pull out the rest of the cards and explain that #3 would have been given if patience has been exercised. But instead the children rushed to do their own ideas. In real life, we need to wait on God for His plan! Step by step.  

Memory Verse: 
“Teach me Your way, O Lord.”  Psalm 27:11  

Prayer: 
Dear Lord, please help us to be patient and to wait for each step of Your plan.  

Living the Life: 
This week remind the children about areas in each of your lives where you need to practice patience so that you follow the will of God.

By Julianne Bell
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