"Stop! Go! Stop! Go!"

The daddy with the small boy perched on his shoulders was completely in tune to his son’s whims. Standing still on the escalator as it moved through the airport concourse, the man moved only when his son commanded, “Go, Daddy!” And then a few seconds later at the sound of yet another command -- “Stop, Daddy!” -- Daddy would stop. And this cycle of commands continued until they reached the end of the moving sidewalk.

I wanted to take their picture, but decided that was too stalker-like; instead, I said to the man, “That’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.” He looked surprised that I had been watching, yet pleased and proud to be carrying his son. Maybe two years old, the tiny boy was happy that his daddy was doing what he asked him to do as soon as he asked him to do it, and his delight showed on his beaming face. The one time Daddy hadn’t responded immediately, the child had yanked his daddy’s graying crew-cut hair and yelled louder, “Go, Daddy. Go right now!” He probably thought his daddy hadn’t heard him since he didn’t react right away.

“Stop! Go! Stop! Go!” Orders were given and obeyed, and the pair moved forward together on the moving walkway.

And then I had one of the moments. You know the kind when God stops you in the midst of your day and speaks through the picture before you? “Stop,” God says. “Who do you see?” And then I saw. Myself. Happy to be walking with God. But really thrilled when He obeyed my commands: “Go, God!” and “Stop, God!” And then when I don’t think my heavenly Father hears me, I cry a little louder: “Stop, God. Stop right now!”

Sometimes God stops when I ask; sometimes He doesn’t. Sometimes God goes when I ask; sometimes He doesn’t. Sometimes I understand; sometimes I don’t. Yet the escalator in God’s world keeps moving from the beginning to the end. And when I’m holding on, God and I are moving together.