Rising Waters

Journal 2005 11 01
Rising Waters

“The ebb tide rose here about 9 Inches, the flood tide must rise here much higher—    we made 29 miles to day from the Great Shute-”

Once again the Corps of Discovery enters “new ground.” Tidal waters of the Pacific Ocean. Having passed the last great Cascades of the Columbia the expedition makes twenty-nine miles on the river, passes Beacon Rock and camps at what is today Oregon’s Rooster Rock State Park about twenty-five miles east of Portland.

As has long been their pattern, the men rise, travel and then eat. Before breakfast this morning the non-swimmers carry much of the gear around the cascades while the rivermen guide the lightly loaded canoes through the rocks. Three canoes are damaged in the process and repaired later in the day.

Bonneville Dam has submerged this long stretch of white water and we can only imagine and examine old pictures to capture a sense of the wildness of the Columbia River. We see the Columbia as a wide, slow moving river suitable for deep water navigation up to the Port of Pasco. That is right, Pasco, WA home of sagebrush, rattlesnakes and nuclear powerplants is a port city because of the damming of the Columbia River. The water was raised far beyond the nine inches of tidal action observed by William Clark as the flow of Pacific Ocean forced its influence miles upriver.

Have you ever thought of that concept before? The Columbia Bar is not a strict separation between the fresh flowing water of the Columbia River and the salt sea of the Pacific Ocean. As powerful as the flow of the tamed Columbia River still is the power of the Pacific Ocean is multiple times more powerful. The ocean tide flows ashore against the beaches and cliffs forcing their destruction. This same tide pushes into the rivers adding water to their channels and resisting the massive gravitational push of the full volume of water a river holds. Because this collision is liquid we see it as a mild mixing of water rather than the massive collision of power that it is. Because it is liquid it is measured by its rising and falling.

Do you have problems colliding, flooding your daily flow of life today? Do you need massive power to come to bear on your behalf to stop the seemingly endless push of power attempting to submerge your pursuit of life? “Do not let the flood of waters overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut its mouth on me.” (Psalms 69:15) “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a flood after the woman, so that he might cause her to be carried away by the river.” (Revelation 12:15) Floods bring fear. They overwhelm, overpower and carry away everything in their path. Facing a flood we need power. Power far beyond the ability of man to marshal against its push.

Maybe the water is only rising nine inches in your life every day and it recedes to a tolerable level before day’s end. The crush, the power, the absolute overwhelming power generated by the tide will retard your movement. We need something, someone, more powerful than the ebb and flow of the tide. We need someone, something, more powerful than any flood to push back on our behalf. “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” (Isaiah 59:19)

The Spirit of God. Invisible to the human eye. Compared to the blowing of the wind and the washing of the waters. Can you see the water rising? You need His power to push it back. Call on His name today and He will raise a standard, His battleflag, over you today against your enemy who, unimpeded, will overwhelm you like a flood.