In 1993 inhabitants of Sitka, Alaska, woke to find their beach dotted with yellow plastic ducks!
When oceanographer Dr Curtis Ebbesmeyer heard, he was able to use his knowledge of ocean currents to trace the bath toys, dubbed “Friendly Floatees”, to an incident that had happened eleven years earlier.
A container ship in the Pacific had run into a storm and lost some containers. One of them broke open, disgorging thousands of floating toys, including the ducks.
They were carried through the Bering straits, to the icy north Atlantic, and as Dr Ebbesmeyer predicted, some ended up on UK beaches!
The deep ocean
Through our lives flows the current of God’s love. Like the deep ocean, it moves and bears along all that is in it.
From time to time there is physical evidence of this current of love. We realise that God is in charge of our circumstances and lovingly works out everything for our good.
Lost and found
Some time ago I lost a key. It took me quite a while to find it, but in the search I came upon an important document that I thought was missing.
Oh, and by the way, I also found the key! God had allowed the loss of the first item so that I could find the second.
It was a small incident, but since then I have been more aware than ever of the flow of God’s love in my life.
Protected and connected
Then there was the time the car ran out of fuel in a wild country area, yet continued on ‘empty’ for much further than it should; or the day it broke down, directly opposite an AA telephone which was so new that the operator could not find it on her chart. It has been connected that morning – just for us!
Sometimes life is so hectic, and our minds are so filled with the present, that we allow the evidence of God’s love and care to pass by unnoticed.
If so, we do God an injustice. For every day we experience the current of his love, though the evidence may seem insignificant.
It may be an accident avoided (though we may never know it), a kindness received, sunshine to lift our spirits, a cheery phone call from a friend or simply a good laugh.
Tiny but significant evidence
Tiny bath toys have marked the vast planetary ocean currents.
As I look back on my life I can see, bobbing here and there down the years, evidence of God’s care for me. There are the major events, which spring easily to mind. But there is also the swarm of ‘yellow ducks’ – unremarkable to some, but to me, precious touches of God in my life.
Like the oceanographer, looking at them I can trace their origin – it is the tender heart of a loving heavenly Father.
Whether you acknowledge him or not, God loves you and wants the very best for you.
Photo Credit: The floating duck – From the Science Museum group.