I've Learned to Kiss the Wave

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The Story Behind I’ve Learned to Kiss the Wave:

This song was inspired by a quote from Charles Spurgeon that has stayed with me for many years:

“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”

I first came across it during a season when life felt especially heavy, and those words reframed how I understood suffering. The waves of life can be brutal. They arrive suddenly, knock the breath out of us, and leave us feeling powerless. And yet, Spurgeon’s words captured a deeper truth — that God often uses those very waves to press us closer to Christ.

Years ago, I even wrote a blog post about this idea, hoping someday to turn Spurgeon’s quote into a song. When I finally sat down to write I’ve Learned to Kiss the Wave, it came from a place of lived experience. I have seen how trials, though painful, have repeatedly driven me back to Jesus — my firm foundation, my safety, my Rock of Ages.

This song is meant to be a joyful reminder of a hard but beautiful truth: God does not waste our suffering. He uses it to refine us, sanctify us, and shape us into who He is calling us to be. Through the waves, He is working something eternal in us — that we may be made complete, lacking nothing.

And so, by His grace, I’ve learned to kiss the wave.

Bible Verses & Biblical Themes in I’ve Learned to Kiss the Wave:

• Psalm 18:2 “the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
• 1 Corinthians 10:4 “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.”
• Psalm 61:1-2 “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I”
• Psalm 62:6–7 “He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.”
• Psalm 42:7 “Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:8–10 “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies.”
• John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
• Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
• 1 Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
• James 1:2–4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
• Romans 5:3–5 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
• 1 Peter 1:6–7 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
• Philippians 2:12-13 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Chords & Lyrics:

I've Learned to Kiss the Wave
Krystal Craven
Copyright: 2026 Krystal Craven
Key: C (capo 5)
Tempo: 94
Flow: I, V1, C, I1, V2, C, I2, B, C, C, I3, O

Intro:
[G]Oh oh oh oooh
[D]Oh oh oh oooh
[Em]Oh oh oh
[C]Hmmm

Verse 1:
[G]When the trials come and hit h[Bm]ard and fast
And at t[Em]imes it feels like I just w[C]on’t last
As my st[G]ory unfolds and hard t[Bm]imes fill the pages
I’ve l[Em]earned to kiss the wave, O Rock of [C]Ages

Chorus:
I’ve l[G]earned to kiss the wave that throws me
By f[D]aith I’ll walk though I can’t see
[Em]Even though the strong wave rages
It thr[C]ows me against the Rock of Ages

Interlude 1:
[G]Oh oh oh oooh
[D]Oh oh oh oooh
[Em]Oh oh oh
[C]Hmmm

Verse 2:
[G]When I think about all that my S[Bm]avior has done
I h[Em]ave to fight the battles, but the w[C]ar is won
That I w[G]on’t be paid [Bm]my sin’s earned wages
I’ve l[Em]earned to kiss the wave, O Rock of [C]Ages

Interlude 2:
[G]Oh oh oh oooh
[D]Oh oh oh oooh
[Em]Oh oh oh oooh
[C] Against the Rock of Ages

Bridge:
[G]I count it all joy, those tr[Bm]ials produce good things
[Em]I thank you, Father to Y[C]ou my heart sings
The w[G]ork Holy Spirit does in m[Bm]e is in stages
I’ve l[Em]earned to kiss the wave, O Rock of [C]Ages

Interlude 3:
[G]Oh oh oh oooh
[D]Oh oh oh oooh
[Em]Oh oh oh o[C]ooh
Against the Rock of Age[G]s

Outro:
Yes, I’ve l[D]earned to kiss the wave
That thr[Em]ows me [C]
Against the Rock of Ages