Being a barley cake kind of sucks, I mean you get pushed around a lot, you aren't strong or powerful, or even noticed most of the time.
So why do we want to be this light wafery cake?
Because in Judges 7, our friend Gideon has a dream about a barley cake. And do you know what it does? It knocks over a huge tent by merely running down a hill into it. It wasn't your average 2 person camper tent, this was a HUGE tent. It knocked it over right on it's side.
Bet you didn't see that coming Gideon!
This would be like throwing a penny at a tree and it just tumbling over. Pretty shocking stuff here.
While working at a soup kitchen and homeless shelter in New York City in February, my friends and I met a man named Ray that truly shone with God's light. Yet years ago he came to this shelter as a man without a home. He told us the tale of his destruction from a successful business man to a broken man. A tale of gambling, drug addiction, adultery, and pain. His family was destroyed, his job ended, he only had drugs to keep him happy. One day he sat in the empty shell that his life had become, and looked behind to see his former life of joy trapped in a tent that he couldn't enter. He saw the pain and tears from his wife and children, but could only look into the tent. His addictions held him back from chasing after what he truly wanted.
Endlessly he tried to pull himself out.
But with no avail.
Until one day while here at the mission he gave it all up. He couldn't do it alone. He let God in.
So God picked him up, put the pieces of himself back together, and spoke life into him. Instead of relying on the drugs, sex, and money for satisfaction he turned to Jesus. And it was hard.
Day by day he fought sin and tried to keep himself together and focused on righteousness.
Until one day it became easier, just a bit more manageable.
Then the most beautiful thing happened.
He was that barley cake.
Just like that cake that rolled down a hill and knocked over the tent, he went and knocked over his tent. The tent that held everything he cared about in life started entering his life again. His wife and children let him reenter their lives again, and he was able to break his addictions. He was given a second chance at life.
But he didn't all of the sudden become super powerful and strong willed.
He had something else.
God knocked over that tent.
A barley cake is nothing, just an object. But a barley cake blessed by God has all of the power of God. By giving his life to God, Ray was able to overcome his obstacles.
It wasn't easy, it wasn't quick, and life is not perfect now.
Every day he feels like he can continue on, without the addictions, keeping true to his family and wife, and that is something beautiful.
So, remember you too are that barley cake.
