“I had a dream. . . . A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

— Judges 7:13

Have you ever had a significant dream that you couldn’t understand?

At different times throughout the history recorded in the Bible, God spoke to people through dreams, and it often took another person to interpret the meaning of a dream. Sometimes still today people find that God speaks through dreams, and sharing them with others can help them discern what God is saying.

In our story for today, God tells Gideon to go to the enemy camp at night, and he hears an enemy soldier describing a dream he has had. In the dream, a loaf of barley tumbles into the Midianite camp and collapses the tent of the Midianites. Another soldier interprets the dream, saying that this means the God of Israel will bring destruction on the Midianites through Gideon. And Gideon, encouraged by this dream, goes back to his camp and musters his army to trust in God’s power—and God overcomes the enemy for them.

God demonstrates that he can work by any means, and often he uses what may seem to be a weak or unlikely option to show how powerful he is.

Do you believe that God can reveal his plans in unlikely ways, and that God can use what seems weak to us to reveal his power in our lives?

Lord our God, lead us to trust that you can use whatever ways you choose to reveal your power and goodness in our lives and in this world. Amen.