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Stop - Warnings that protect us from doing harm to ourselves or others often comes from within.
Whether driving or walking, if we see a sign that says “Stop” or hear someone warning us to stop, we will almost always do so. Sometimes the authority is that of the government, at other times we attribute authority to whoever gives us the warning. We rely on previous experience whether to trust that whoever warns us is concerned about our welfare or is attempting to manipulate us in some way. We can usually tell the difference between the urgency in the voice of someone being protective and the more self-interested tone of voice of someone seeking our attention for their own purposes.
It is easy to imagine our response to a police officer in uniform telling us to stop, or even a stranger who warns us and is standing in front of something that we can almost immediately recognize as dangerous. What might be our response if God were to tell us to stop what we are doing? If we thought that it really was God, would we stop first and then ask questions if we thought it important to know? Or would we immediately question whether this was necessary and perhaps seek an alternative? This thought exercise is not about a remote possibility but a faith perspective worth considering, for the equivalent of “stop” is a relatively common occurrence in people’s inner experiences. We do not usually hear such warnings with our ears, but we do receive impulses to not proceed as we were thinking of doing which we can notice and respect or we can go right ahead as if nothing has crossed our minds and hearts.
When God gently but clearly communicates the equivalent of “Stop,” our level of trust will be manifested in how or even whether we respond. Some of us might have had sufficient previous experience to know that any such warning is always to our benefit, even if we cannot see how or why this is so. At other times, we might have been so attached to what we intended to say or do that our feelings of disappointment might have led us to thoughts that being warned to stop was unfair or unwarranted. We might have struggled with our thoughts and feelings until we came to a peaceful resolution. Or, exercising our freedom to choose, we might have gone ahead as per our plan. If we later reflected, we would have found that we were not in any way punished, but we still might have noticed that we did not feel at peace at having ignored the impulse we had received.
Reviewing some of our past experiences can be very affirming, both of our awareness of receiving such caring graces from God, and of the positive difference it has made for us when we stopped whatever we had in mind to do.
A popular song once carried this message, which might speak to some of our experiences with God: “Stop, in the name of love!”
Last Updated 6/27/2026