The Weight We Carry Through

In Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, there is a scene that has haunted readers for over a century. Jean Valjean, the ex-convict transformed by grace, must carry the unconscious body of young Marius through the sewers of Paris. The passage is suffocating to read. Hugo describes the darkness, the stench, the sucking mud that threatens to pull Valjean under with every step. Valjean cannot see where he is going. He does not know if the man on his back is still alive. He only knows he must keep walking.

At one point, Valjean sinks to his knees in the mire and believes it is the end. But he rises. He shifts the weight on his shoulders, finds his footing, and takes one more step. Then another. Then another. He does not persevere because the tunnel gets easier. He perseveres because the life he carries matters more than his exhaustion.

The apostle Paul wrote, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). There are seasons when faithfulness feels like wading through sewers in the dark. You cannot see the exit. The weight is crushing. Everything in you says stop.

But the God who carried you first — El Shaddai, the Almighty — gives strength for one more step. And one more step is all He ever asks.