Lessons from a Cake
A woman named Alice was supposed to bake a cake for the ladies' group at the new church she was attending, but forgot to do it until the last minute. She remembered the morning of the bake sale and, after rummaging through cabinets, found an angel food cake mix and quickly made it while drying her hair, dressing, and helping her son pack for Scout camp.
When Alice took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured. She thought, "Oh dear, there is not time to bake another cake."
This cake was important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church and in her new community of friends. So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake. She finally found it in the bathroom--a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and covered it with icing. The form of the roll, and the texture of the paper itself made the finished product look perfect.
Before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter Amanda and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the moment it opened at 9:30 and to buy the cake and bring it home. However, when Amanda arrived at the sale, she found the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold. She quickly grabbed her cell phone and called her mom.
Alice was horrified. She was beside herself. Everyone would know! What would they think? She would be ostracized, talked about, and ridiculed! All night, Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing fingers at her and talking about her behind her back.
The next day, Alice promised herself she would try not to think about the cake and would attend the fancy luncheon at the home of a fellow church member and try to have a good time. Alice did not want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more than once had looked down her nose at Alice because she was a single parent and not from the founding families of her city but, having already RSVP'd, she couldn't think of a believable excuse to stay home.
The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust and, to Alice 's horror, the cake in question was presented for dessert! Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake!
She started out of her chair to tell the hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, the mayor's wife said, "What a beautiful cake!" Alice still stunned, sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (who was also a prominent church member) say, "Thank you. I baked it myself."
Alice smiled and thought to herself, "God is good."
Funny story, with some life lessons for all of us. For one, things are not always what they seem on the surface. Second, as Scripture attests, "pride comes before the fall." And third, never stuff your bad cake with toilet paper to fool people--unless you know the snob hostess is going to buy it and claim it for her own!
But most of all, you probably shouldn't spend so much time worrying about what other people think of you, because the reality is, they seldom do. Just be who God made you to be, and be secure in what HE thinks of you. And remember, He loves you just the way you are, but He also loves you too much to leave you that way!
Have a blessed weekend. I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
--Pastor Ken
