Pause for Thought: The Good Things
Can good things come out of tough times?
by Alexandra Palmer
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To use the story of Joseph to consider that good things can come out of tough times.
Preparation and materials
- Have available the YouTube video ‘God’s story: Joseph’ and the means to show it during the assembly. It is 3.48 minutes long and is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ7wLTBnF84
- Optional: you may wish to record the children’s answers to the questions in the ‘Assembly’, Steps 5 and 6, in which case you will also need the means to do this, such as a flip chart or a whiteboard.
- Optional: you may also wish to use the extension activity (The Good Things - Extension Activity) that accompanies this assembly.
Assembly
- Read out the following words: ‘nasty’, ‘terrible’, ‘dreadful’, ‘awful’ and ‘grim’.
Ask the children whether they can think of a three-letter word that means the same. (The answer that you are looking for is ‘bad’.) - Ask the children, ‘What is the opposite meaning, or antonym, of “bad”?’
Listen to a range of responses.
The answer that you are looking for is ‘good’. - Ask the children what they understand by the word ‘good’. How would they use it?
Listen to a range of responses.
Examples might include good food, a response to something positive happening, a good result or score, good behaviour or a good guess. - Introduce the story of Joseph in the Bible.
The story of Joseph can be found in the Old Testament part of the Bible. Joseph had 11 brothers, but of all the brothers, Joseph was his father’s favourite. He singled out Joseph by giving him a coat of many colours, which made Joseph’s brothers jealous. When Joseph started boasting to them about some dreams he’d had in which he was ruling over them, it made things even worse.
In the end, the brothers decided to get rid of Joseph. One day, while they were out working in the fields, they threw Joseph into a deep pit and then sold him into slavery in Egypt.
Let’s watch a video to find out what happened next.
Show the YouTube video ‘God’s story: Joseph’. - Discuss the video by asking the following questions.
Optional: you may wish to record the children’s answers.
- What are the bad things that happened in the story? (Record the answers on the left side of the board, if using.)
Listen to a range of responses.
Answers may include Joseph boasting to his brothers about his dreams, saying that he was ruling over them; Joseph being his dad’s favourite child and being given an extra present (the coat); Joseph’s brothers throwing him into a pit and selling him into slavery; Joseph’s brothers lying to their dad about what had happened to Joseph (they said that he’d been attacked by a wild animal); and Joseph being falsely accused and thrown in prison.
- What are the good things that happened in the story? (Record the answers on the right side of the board, if using.)
Listen to a range of responses.
Answers may include Joseph’s brothers deciding not to kill him; Potiphar putting Joseph in charge of his house; the prison officer putting Joseph in charge of all of the other prisoners; Joseph meeting two of Pharaoh’s servants in prison and telling them what their dreams meant; the servants passing on this information about Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams when Pharaoh had strange dreams of his own; Pharaoh putting Joseph in charge of collecting grain and giving it out during the famine; Joseph tricking his brothers to see whether they would tell the truth (they did); and Joseph forgiving his brothers when he ruled over them. - Ask the children, ‘Can you make a connection between the bad things and the good things?’
Draw lines between the two groups of sentences on the board, if using, to show that good things came out of the bad things.
- Joseph boasted to his brothers about his dreams, saying that he was ruling over them and Joseph forgave his brothers when he did rule over them.
- Joseph’s brothers lied to their father about what had happened to Joseph and Joseph tricked his brothers to see whether they would tell the truth (they did).
- Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery and Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his house.
- Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery and Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of collecting grain and giving it out during the famine.
- Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison and in prison, the officer put Joseph in charge of all of the other prisoners.
- Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison and while he was in prison, Joseph met two of Pharaoh’s servants and told them what their dreams meant.
- Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison and when Pharaoh had strange dreams of his own, the servants told Pharaoh about Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams. - Hold a class vote on the following question: ‘Is it possible for good things to come out of bad things that happen?’
- Remind the children that, during the past year, we’ve all been through really tough times. Ask the children whether they can think of anything good that has come out of it.
Encourage the children to discuss the question in groups.
Suggestions could include:
- learning how to use Zoom, which we may continue to use to keep in touch with family and friends who live further away
- having time to read books and learn new skills
- taking up new hobbies
- getting to know our neighbours better
- creating a vaccine to protect us from Covid
- appreciating the NHS
- people raising money for charity, such as Captain Sir Tom Moore
- taking more daily exercise such as walking
Time for reflection
Point out that at the start of Joseph’s story, he was boastful and spoilt, so it’s not surprising that his brothers got very cross with him. Encourage the children to consider that how we behave affects other people. We need to be patient and kind, and be considerate towards others.
Ask the children, ‘How many years do you think it took Joseph to go from being thrown in a pit to being Pharaoh’s second-in-command at the palace?’
Listen to a range of responses.
The answer is 13 years.
Ask the children, ‘Why do you think Joseph forgave his brothers?’
Listen to a range of responses.
The answer is that although Joseph’s brothers intended to harm him, he knew that God had planned it for good and turned it around. This led Joseph to believe that God can bring good things from bad. This is what Christians believe today. They believe that when we go through tough times, good things can come from them, even if it takes years.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for Joseph’s story and the lessons that we can learn from it.
Thank you that we know that our tough times can end.
Thank you for all the good things that come out of tough times.
Please help us to keep going when things are hard.
Please help us to look for ways in which we can help others through tough times.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Our God is a great big God’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaXPXWBcE3I (3 minutes long)
Extension activities
- Give each child a copy of the sheet that accompanies this assembly (The Good Things - Extension Activity). Ask them to create a mind map of the good things to have come out of these tough times.
