Kids can be impatient. They want what they want, when they want it. Understanding that God sometimes shows His love for them by making them wait for something they ask Him for can be frustrating. There’s a fun activity you can do to help them understand God’s timing a little better.
Grab some seeds, some little disposable cups and some dirt. Start seedlings when it is still too cold to plant them safely outside. Plant only a couple of seeds per cup. As soon as the seeds start to sprout, place one cup of them outside in the cold. Have your kids check on it each day. If it’s cold enough, it should die within a day or two. Depending on how many seeds you planted and how long it is until actual planting weather, place another cup of seedlings outside as soon as the previous seedlings died or at least once a week. As the weather gets warmer, you may want to plant the seedlings in your garden instead of just setting the cup of seedlings in your garden.
Once seedlings start to live and grow, talk to your children Ask them what would have happened if you had planted all of the seedlings that first week or so when it was still too cold. Ask them why farmers wait until a specific time each year to plant their seeds. Explain that the proper timing means it is more likely those seeds will grow to produce crops.
Ask older children if they can think of any Bible stories when following God’s timing was important. Even stories like Noah and the Ark would have turned out differently if Noah had taken longer than God wanted to finish the Ark. Or the story when King Saul sacrificed without waiting for Samuel as God required. What negative consequences could have or did happen if God’s timing wasn’t followed?
Explain to your kids that God still has some things He wants to happen at certain times. There are a lot of different reasons for that. Sometimes the people and circumstances aren’t ready and we will understand God’s timing better later. At other times, we may not understand God’s timing. We need to trust, however, that God knows what is best for us.