A boy’s toy boat went out of reach on a pond one day and started floating away. A man on the side started throwing rocks at the boat and the boy became horrified at what might happen. But then he realized that the rocks were going over the boat and making ripples that finally pushed the boat back to shore and into the boy’s hands.

Many times, when we stray away from God, it appears that he is throwing rocks at us. But he is really using the ripples to bring us back home.