Advanced Level, Block 8—Remnant Standing Properly
Week 76
Frustration Comes In
Point to Emphasize: Is your attitude or speaking a frustration to others? Does it spoil things?
Reference Reading: Ezra 3:8, 10-14; 4:1-5, 24, footnote 11
Memory Verse: There is one who speaks rashly like the piercings of a sword, / But the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18)
Story Sample
Because of Zerubbabel’s leadership, the building work had gone quite well. The foundation of the temple was completed, and the people were full of thanksgiving, rejoicing, and singing. What a marvelous event! There was a time of celebration. Of course, there was still a lot of work to do. The temple would need to be rebuilt and then the wall around the city needed to be raised up. But for the moment, the people were encouraged that the foundation was completed. They were prepared to continue and complete the temple.
But a frustration came in. Other people were dwelling in the vicinity. They were people from Babylon and Assyria who were not Jews. And they were against the rebuilding.
What is frustration? Frustration is a word, action, or attitude that hinders the progress, limits the success, or stops the completion of something. Frustration causes us to be upset or annoyed because it gets in the way of achieving something. Do you know what these ones who were against the rebuilding did? [Let the children consider and discuss what might cause a frustration and discuss their ideas.]
You have given some good ideas but here is what they did. Ezra 4:4-5 says, “Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building. And they hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose…” How do you “weaken” the hands of the people? [The children should be able to say that this is not a physical weakening like tying one hand behind their back but a weakening by discouraging remarks.] Often, we are prevented from making progress by discouraging remarks.
Recently I heard that some of the young people were talking about an upcoming conference. They were saying how wonderful it would be to see the ones that they had met from other cities again. They were all looking forward to it. After a short time, another young person entered the group and after listening a bit said, “But, you know it is such a LONG drive, F-I-V-E hours, for just two days.” Now, tell me, what do you think the others said after that? [Let them discuss and see what they think happened. Most of them should say that the whole conversation turned negative.] You see, before this comment, everyone was looking forward to the time at the conference. Then this discouraging comment came, and no one in this group was looking forward to it anymore. [Storyteller, use your own example.]
Are you like this? Do you speak in ways to frustrate others from looking forward to an event? I am afraid that you often are like that. You may think that you are merely telling the truth or what you believe to be true. BUT you have brought in a discouraging attitude. If this had been you in the example, giving discouraging remarks, you would have “weakened” their thought of having a good time at the conference. And yet, if you look more closely at the negative speaking that spoiled the thought of a good time, you will realize that it is really not altogether true. Maybe part of the drive would be spent memorizing the verses for the conference. Maybe those in the car would spend some time playing word and number games? Long drives in the car don’t always have to be BORING. And when everyone is worn out, they can take a nap. It seems that young people like to nap in cars. (Ha, ha, ha.)
This probably corresponds to situations you have been in, where you or someone else says something that discourages the others. Before we speak we should take a minute to think first: will my speaking discourage others? One of the most discouraging things you can say is, “Oh, that sounds so BORING.” It is really a frustration to others. I hope today’s story brings back the memory of a time recently when you were the one speaking a discouraging comment. I hope you now realize what a frustration your words were to others. We must admit we all do this far too often. But maybe we have not felt guilty about it until now. And when we do feel guilty about something, we should admit it. We should be sorry that we have stopped others from enjoying something because our attitude and speaking were so discouraging.