The Courage to Stand in the Light

In Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Jean Valjean has finally built a good life. After years as a hunted ex-convict, he has become a respected mayor and factory owner under a new name. No one knows his past. He is safe.

Then word reaches him that another man — a stranger named Champmathieu — has been arrested and mistaken for him. If Valjean stays silent, the wrong man goes to prison, and Valjean keeps everything: his reputation, his wealth, his freedom. The temptation to do nothing is enormous.

But Valjean cannot sleep. Hugo describes a man pacing through the longest night of his life, wrestling with his conscience. And when morning comes, Valjean walks into the courtroom and speaks three devastating words: "I am he."

He loses everything. And in losing everything, he becomes the man God created him to be.

This is what courage looks like in the kingdom of the Almighty. It is rarely the dramatic charge into battle. More often, it is the quiet decision to tell the truth when silence would be so much easier — choosing faithfulness over comfort, integrity over security.

Joshua 1:9 reminds us, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Valjean's fictional courtroom is not so different from the real rooms where God asks us to stand, to speak, and to trust Him with what comes next.