Flood Waters
February 11, 2019 | By Serena Riddle, BF ‘21. Serena is majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
Flood waters rise, but it won’t wash away.
Love never dies; it will hold on more fierce than graves.
Over winter break I had the chance to ask a member of a national disaster recovery team what he believed was the hardest disaster do deal with - his unhesitating reply was “floods”. This folksy melody by Josh Garrels inhales the terror and wreckage of something so destructively overpowering and exhales peace - peace, not from ignorance of the things that threaten to overcome us but from the assurance of something much, much stronger.
The contentment reflected in the tune is proclaimed in the chorus, where the love of God is pointed to as the ever-enduring source of rescue, undying and “more fierce than graves”, sustained by the God who lasts “past the time of the longest bloodline”. Not only in our studies, but in the trials of life that sweep us off our feet and feel like they’re pulling us under, this song is a heartfelt reminder of the Father who gathers us under his wings and is a “refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8). Not even something as strong as death is more than what our God can bring us through. In the spirit of this song I hope that this love, which is something we are invited live in throughout our busy days, will be continually recognized by our hearts for the way it truly does win no matter what the opposition may be.
Flood Waters by Josh Garrels
Higher than the yonder mountain and deeper than the sea
From the breadth of the east unto the west
Is the love that started with a seed
Stronger than the wildest horses and the rising tide
The chords of death hung so heavy round our necks
Will be left at the great divide
Flood waters rise, but it won’t wash away
Love never dies, it will hold on more fierce than graves
Farther than the pale moon rises upon the open plains
Past the time of the longest bloodline
There shines an immortal flame
Somewhere in between forever and this passing day
There’s a place moth and rust cannot lay waste
This is grace, the face of love
Flood waters rise, but it won't wash away
Love never dies, it will hold on more fierce than graves