During the Civil War,
Ida Mayfield, a beautiful belle from Louisiana, became the toast of New York
society. She was among the most beautiful, well-bred women in the city, and
married to Ben Wood, a newspaper magnate and congressman. She wore the finest gowns and jewels,
danced with the Prince of Wales, was presented to Empress Eugenie of Austria,
and entertained President Cleveland.
Then, during the financial panic of 1907, she disappeared without a
trace.
But Ida Mayfield was a
hoax. You see, Ida Mayfield was
really Ellen Walsh, the penniless daughter of an immigrant textile worker,
using a borrowed dress, the name of a respected Louisiana family, and her innate
charm. Her husband, Ben Wood,
never knew her real identity.
Ida Mayfield, or Ellen
Walsh, disappeared from the scene for several years. In 1931, she was found blind, deaf and shrunken. She was 94 years old, and living in a dingy
New York hotel room, wearing a “dress” made only of two hotel towels pinned
together. Her room was a mess of
yellowed newspapers, letters and boxes, all scattered in disarray. She was judged incompetent and was made
a ward of the court.
However, when they
opened the boxes, they found securities worth hundreds of thousands of
dollars. A diamond and emerald
necklace was hidden in a box of crackers.
And to top it off, fifty $10,000 dollar bills were contained inside a
pouch tied around her waist. When
collectors took this from her, she died.
There is a record of a young lady who lived in Babylon that went by the name of Hadassah. Like Ida Mayfield, Haddasah entertained royalty. She wore the finest gowns and jewels. She had seven personal palace maids. She received private beauty treatments that could be afforded by only the wealthiest of society. She ate only the most exquisite of meals. And, like Ida Mayfield, she was not being forthright concerning her true identity.
Like Ida Mayfield, she was not really the daughter of royalty or wealth, but unlike Ida Mayfield, she was not a hoax. And unlike Ida Mayfield, she did not disappear when things started shaking. Instead, she understood that she was "come to the kingdom for such a time as this." She realized it was her time to shine! So she revealed to her true identity to her husband and saved the lives of her uncle and rest of the Jews in the kingdom.
Like Esther, it is imperative that the church today understand that we have "come to the kingdom for such a time as this." We don't need to hide our identity. Ellen Walsh hid her identity because she was ashamed and she was living a lie. Esther hid her identity at the request of her uncle, who feared she would be turned away at best and killed at worst. Today, the church needs to boldly proclaim her identity with Jesus Christ. Our freedom from sin was purchased by His blood.
Several years ago, as I lay down trying to go to sleep, I heard a
distinctive rumble in the distance. I listened a little while longer, and then
it came: a flash of light, and a few seconds later thunder.
Maybe I’m not like most, but I must admit that I am mesmerized by the
awesome power that is exhibited in an electrical storm. I climbed out of bed,
put on my robe and went out on the porch to watch with wonder, nature’s most
beautiful light show. Not being able to see sufficiently, I went into our back
yard and climbed up into my son’s clubhouse to get a better view.
It wasn’t long before the sky lit up and streaks of lightening raced
across the sky in numerous directions. One bolt shot vertically, I could hear
the unmistakable sound of hundreds of thousands of volts concentrated on one
spot on the earth reverberate from a few miles away. In a matter of seconds,
the clap of thunder signifying a direct hit exploded in my ears and rattled my
brain.
Then the wind began to blow. The trees began to dance violently, as
they swirled to the music of the wind. The loose piece of tin on our carport
began to bounce up and down and bang loudly against the one next to it. Finally
the rain began to fall, slowly at first and then more rapidly as the storm
began to pick up velocity. It was time to head back into the house and go to
bed.
From childhood, there seems to be a natural fear of storms. When the
lightening flashes and the thunder explodes around us, we become gripped with
fear and we search for shelter and hope for the best. We hope that the storm
will not reach us. We hope that the storm will not hurt us.We hope that the storm will not destroy
our belongings.And ultimately, we
hope the storm will go away.
This fear is a natural fear that is born out of respect for the
ferociousness in the power of a storm.
When a child of God is surrounded by a storm of life, we become fearful
that the storm will destroy us. Too often, those who are caught in the storm,
forget God’s power in the storms of life.
There are two boat stories that deal with storms in the Gospels. In
one, Jesus was asleep on a pillow, in the boat, when the storm came. In the
other, Jesus had been up on a mountain praying, and then he came along later,
walking on the water. If you don’t remember
anything else I write, remember this: Whenever you are in a storm of life,
Jesus is either:
1.On the boat with you, just waiting on you to
call out to Him, or…
2.He is going to come walking along, on top of
the tempest.
Either way, He is going to calm the storm for you – He’s going to
provide peace that passes understanding!
One of Satan’s greatest ploys is to shut Jesus out of a man's world and
lock Him up in the church. God is as powerful in the world as He is in His
Church! He is as powerful in your home as He is in Heaven. He’s as powerful in
your storm as He is in a power-packed church service! If Satan can retire God
in our minds, he then can run the world and ruin our lives!
In Matthew 14:22, Jesus sent His disciples off “to go before Him”, and
then He went up on the mountain alone to pray.He fully intended to come along later, and He let them know
that.It is interesting to note,
however, that He left Himself with no provision to get to the other side.He had no boat; so, how did He plan to
get there?How did His disciples
think He was going to get there?I
noticed that none of them offered to stay and float Him over later.
Ah, but when you then as Creator, you don’t worry about insignificant
stuff like that!
We are talking about One whose vest was buttoned with the stars.He wears the earth like a tiny diamond
in Creation’s crown.He brought
all of His authority and power to earth.
Are you getting a picture of the power of our Savior?Can you see why one shouldn’t live in
fear during a storm?
This same One who created the winds and the
rain...
This
same One who created the storms’ wonder and power...
This same One walks with me, and He talks with
me...
And He
tells me that I am His own!
Listen: Jesus has the power and ability to walk on
top of your raging problems!He
walks on the Sea of Life and He calms the storms of life! He can be present
without Jacobs being aware, but hell and storms take notice!
A perfect match becomes a perfect mess, and your marriage suddenly needs
a better homemaker than any mere man or woman can possibly be.There is One who walks on top of the
problem! Sadly, there are literally thousands who drown daily in the flood of
alcoholism and drug addiction, and no one notices the national disaster.Homes are broken apart by issues that
come in with the fury of a tornado, twisting the very life out of a marriage.
Financial problems...
Infidelity
problems...
In-law problems...
Child
problems...
Priority problems...
Minds are going to pieces like tin barns hit by hurricane-force
winds.Lives are crushed beneath
the pressure of hopes and ambitions that have been crushed by the flattening
force of problems of prodigious proportions.A moral storm rages within and without.
Too many people are in the dark, and they can’t see the landmarks
anymore.And suddenly, we realize
that we cannot deal with the storm without the Master of the storm!
If at creation He pinched up the mountains and pinned up the stars to
suit Himself, He can walk across any
problem we have and bring us a calm and a peace that passes all understanding!If you are a blood-bought, born-again
child of God, you are made of the right
stuff, and there ain’t no storm gonna be able to take you down!God ahead and praise Him in the
storm.
