Did you know Jiminy Cricket was a man before he was a cricket? At least, that's the story according to the "Once Upon A Time" writers. In Storybrooke, he's Dr. Hopper, the umbrella carrying town psychologist; in the Enchanted Forest, he's a young man whose parents are con artists. Both versions are going through an identity crisis: they want to be better men than they are. Deep down, they know that their current actions don't match the person they were meant to be. Both point to powers outside themselves as preventing them from being who they really are. Sound familiar?
As this week's episode starts, Dr. Hopper dismisses Henry's notions of an alternate fairy tale world, something the doctor told Emma would be dangerous to the boy's psyche. Emma confronts him, angrily questioning, "What could possibly be strong enough to drown out your own conscience?" How would you answer that question? Be honest. There are times, maybe more than you'd like to admit, when you ignore your conscience and do the exact opposite of what you know to be right. So often we choose to point the finger elsewhere in those moments, to say we would have chosen differently except for the people standing in our way. We would prefer not to admit that the only thing standing in the way is ourselves; what goes on in our hearts and our minds is much more powerful than any person who chooses to threaten or tempt us. For me, that still, small voice gets drowned out by fear: fear that doing the right thing might cost me dearly; fear that I'm inadequate; fear that I'm not really capable of being the person I was meant to be. The things other people (or Satan) say or do may prey on that fear, but the fear and the decision are ultimately my own.
Time for a reality check.
Are you familiar with the story of Moses? Born an Israelite, adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, he eventually kills a man and flees Egypt to the desert where he becomes a shepherd. One day, God shows up. In that moment, God's voice speaks from a burning bush to call Moses to be the person he was meant to be: "I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:10) Moses' reaction is pure fear: "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" God's responds with a reality check: "Certainly I will be with you..." The point, Moses, is that it's not about you and your ability; it's about ME and the fact that I will go with you. I will give you the words to speak. I will give you the strength to act. And ultimately, I will be the one to show my power and soften Pharaoh's heart. I can and will do all this because I AM.
I think we need the same reality check. If you have chosen to put your faith in Christ, you ARE a new creation (present tense!) and you have been filled with God's Spirit. That Spirit is your "conscience"... it is the voice inside you that calls and challenges you to act as the person God created you to be. Let each call, each moment of decision, be a moment when you remind yourself that God is with you, that you don't make this choice alone, that He will make you more than capable. You have nothing to fear because God is fighting with and for you, and He will always win! And in those moments when you do make the wrong choice, when you're forced to look in the mirror and say, "This is not who I am"... remember that I AM is the God of second (and tenth and hundredth) chances. He will forgive and forget and continue to call you to something better. He promises to complete the work He started in you (Philippians 1:6), and I AM always keeps His promises.
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