All Things For God

By Janice

STORY
One long summer, all I could think about was that I wanted a brand new, shiny bicycle SO bad! It seemed like all the other kids in the neighborhood had the coolest, newest, shiniest best bikes ever . . . except me. Every day, all my friends would get together to ride their cool bikes on my street. I hated my bike. I wanted a new one SO badly. My parents said they could only buy me new handle grips. And so they did. They even got me fancy ones with streamers hanging down, but that didn't make me happy. I wasn’t thankful for them at all. I pouted and continued to be ungrateful and embarrassed of my bike. 

Little did I know that all summer long while I was so sad and had such a bad attitude, there was a brand new red bicycle in the attic for me—a surprise for my birthday.

SCRIPTURE
Read Romans 8:28–29.

THINK  
Do you think God can make not so good things turn out great? In the Bible, it says that God works all things out for good for those who love Him. But sometimes we don’t understand that; we can't see it when things aren’t going so well. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t get a new bicycle that summer. But, guess what? God knew me from the very beginning and He knows all the surprises and blessings and gifts He has for me. God can even use the bad times in our lives for good—because He loves us so much! God is able to blend the good and the bad experiences in our lives together for our good. 

DO SOMETHING
Yesterday, Nick talked about his first time baking a cake. Today, we want you to bake a cake together with your family. Before you mix everything together, stop and look at all the different ingredients: flour, and oil, and eggs. Would they be yummy if you had to eat them all by themselves? No way! But when everything is mixed together, it’s delicious! 

God is able to take the good and the bad experiences in our lives and mix them together for our good—for what’s best for us! God is able to take waiting for a new bicycle and turn it into good!

PRAY
Dear Jesus, help me to trust You and still be thankful to You EVEN when things don’t seem to be going well. I believe that You make all things work together for good because you called me and love me. Amen.