Crawling Through the Dark to Reach the Light

In the final act of Les Misérables, Jean Valjean carries the wounded Marius through the sewers of Paris. It is one of the most physically grueling sequences ever put to film. Valjean is old. He is exhausted. The water rises to his chest, thick with filth, and the tunnels stretch on with no visible end. He has every reason to set the young man down and save himself. No one would blame him. No one would even know.

But he does not stop. Step after agonizing step, he pushes forward through the darkness because he has made a promise — not just to Marius or to Cosette, but to the God who gave him a second chance at life. Every step is an act of love carried out on legs that have nothing left to give.

The Apostle Paul knew this kind of perseverance. "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair" (2 Corinthians 4:8). Paul was not describing a life free from sewers. He was describing the stubborn, grace-fueled decision to keep walking through them.

Some of you are in the tunnel right now. The weight on your shoulders is real. The darkness feels endless. But the God who redeemed Jean Valjean — and who redeems you — does not ask you to see the exit. He asks you to take the next step. And He will carry what you cannot.