When son Jimmy was little, maybe 5-8 years old, if we were walking in a store or on a sidewalk somewhere, I would often place one hand on his shoulders right at the back of the neck, and use that to "steer" him toward where we needed to go, rather than let him wander off on his own as he was prone to do. It kept us connected, and was easier for him to tolerate than me holding on to his hand, since he was getting a little "big" for hand-holding. Plus, at that age it was a comfortable height for my hand to rest - sort of at my chest level. His neck and shoulders were still small enough for just one of my hands to shift his direction easily.
In Summer of 2018, I was in a Bible study led by my brother-in-law & his wife on the topic of the Names of God. The study encouraged us to understand how God has revealed Himself to us individually, much as He did to the ancients. They named God for how they met Him and what He showed them about Himself. As I was thinking about that idea, the picture came to me of my hand resting on Jimmy's neck and how I turned him gently in the direction we needed to go. I realized that God had been doing that to me for decades, and so I gave God a name of El Sabab Panah: the God who directs me, who turns me this way and that, with His hand always upon me.
It was an object lesson also of the Fatherhood of God - how He restrains our inclination to wander off, keeping our focus on where He is going, and never more firmly than is needed in the moment.
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