Of Whales and Scars
Piece of sperm whale skin with giant squid sucker scars, Image Source “The Depths of the Ocean: A General Account of the Modern Science of Oceanography Based Largely on the Scientific Researches of the Norwegian Steamer ‘Michael Sars’ in the North Atlantic”, by Murray, J. and J. Hjort. Publisher “Macmillan and Co., Ltd.” in “1912”. 821 pages: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14187086#page/467/mode/1up; Image Author NASA (PD)
Sperm whales often bear circular scars from the suckers of giant squid, evidencing the titanic battles which take place in total darkness deep in the ocean [1][2]. Older whales have so many scars they overlap one another. The indigestible beaks and other body parts of the giant squid show up in the stomachs of sperm whales.
Some of us have profound regrets, no matter how exemplary the lives we have attempted to lead. We see our faults and failures all too clearly. They gnaw at our guts.
If we have particularly sensitive consciences, we are likely to regret even things over which we had little or no control. These battles of the soul rage on long after there is any chance of making up for past mistakes. They torment us, if not during daylight hours then at night.
All men sin and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3: 23). It is not God, however, who torments us with regrets. It is Satan who condemns us; Satan who seeks to discourage us to the point of paralysis, if he cannot draw us away from God. Scripture tells us that he is the accuser of the brethren, appearing before God both day and night to point out our shortcomings (Rev. 12: 10).
But we have a far greater Advocate in Christ (Rom 8: 34; Heb. 7: 25; 1 John 2: 1). He will neither forget nor abandon us, once we have committed our lives to Him. He takes up our cause from a love so overwhelming the adversary cannot comprehend it.
No one escapes this life without scars, without regrets. In some sense, they are a record of our lives; proof that we lived and fought spiritual battles. Many of these we may have lost. What matters though is our commitment to Christ. He won the war for us at the cross (Col. 2: 15; Heb. 2: 14-15).
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8: 37).
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[1] Ocean, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, “Giant Squid Sucker Marks”, https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/giant-squid-sucker-marks.
[2] American Museum of Natural History, “Sperm Whale and Giant Squid”, https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/ocean-life/sperm-whale-and-giant-squid.
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