Go in the Strength You Have

You don’t need more strength—you just need to start with what you’ve got.

Welcome to The Resilient Series—a collection of reflections from wise, faith-filled voices exploring what it means to live resilient in Jesus. Each week, we’ll hear from a different writer—authors, pastors, coaches, neurosurgeons, and everyday disciples—sharing their stories, Scripture insights, and hard-won hope. Whether you’re arriving here at the start or joining partway through, each piece stands alone and invites you to draw near to the God who strengthens us through every season.

This week, we have the brilliant Jonathon M. Seidl take us into the story of Gideon to show what Spirit-filled resilience really looks like. It’s not about having it all together or feeling brave enough to face the battle ahead. It’s about trusting that God can do extraordinary things through ordinary obedience. Drawing from his own story of addiction and redemption, Jon reminds us that resilience starts when we bring our weakness to God and let Him call us what we really are: mighty warriors.

The story of Gideon in the Bible has become one of my favorites. Are you familiar with it? If not, or even if you are, I want to show you something in his story that I think will help you slay some dragons in your life.

Gideon’s tale is the story of a lowly farmer who is constantly doubting God, has no special skills, but leads a revolution. And it’s the perfect story for you and for me: the addicts, the fakes, the frauds, the floundering, the philanderers, the imposters, the strugglers, the stragglers, and the all-around messy and sanctified.

Give me just a minute to explain.

We pick up Gideon’s story in Judges 6 as he’s threshing wheat, which means he’s separating the grain from the stalk. But he’s doing it in a winepress. Why? Because he’s trying to stay out of sight of the Midianites, Israel’s enemy at the time.

In other words, he’s literally farming in fear. He’s scared. He’s hiding.

So imagine the look on Gideon’s face when an angel shows up and tells him that he’s been chosen to lead Israel’s army. In fact, the angel says something quite strange. He doesn’t refer to Gideon by his name but rather refers to him by a new title: “mighty warrior” (v. 12 NIV).

Not surprisingly, the man who’s literally hiding from the enemy is confused. He says, no way. He goes on to make all sorts of excuses. He tries to convince God that he’s a nobody. He’s unqualified. He’s small and weak.

“Look at me. My clan’s the weakest in Manasseh and I’m the runt of the litter” he says. (v. 15 MSG). Find someone else!

God doesn’t. In fact, the angel utters some simple but incredible words: “Go in the strength you have” (v. 14 NIV).

After a little more arguing, and after Gideon asks for numerous signs just to make sure God’s got the right guy, Gideon eventually obeys. But then God pulls an audible: He tells Gideon he has to whittle down his army from thirty-two thousand men to just three hundred. Gideon obeys again, and those three hundred men go on to defeat the entire army of Midian.

So how does a scared, hiding farmer become a “mighty warrior” who defeats an entire army with only 0.9375 percent of the men he started with? And why am I telling you this story? The answer is the same: Because Gideon followed four really important steps to go from fearful farmer to mighty man of valor. And these steps are transformative for all of us.

I know these steps all too well. They are the steps God took me through to break my alcohol addiction, heal my trauma, and bring me to new levels of spiritual awareness. (As I detail in my new book, Confessions of a Christian Acloholic, I’m the Christian who became an alcoholic, not the other way around.)

Let me show you the four steps.

Step 1: Gideon abides with God. God sends an angel, and Gideon entertains God’s messenger, spends time with him, and converses with him.

Step 2: God gives Gideon a new identity. It’s a stunning development because it’s so different from the identity he has been operating out of. Gideon goes from scared farmer to “mighty warrior.”

Step 3: Gideon is radically vulnerable. At first, it may seem disrespectful that Gideon tries to make excuses and talk himself out of the job, but it’s actually crucial. By being honest, Gideon is actually building trust with God, and God uses that to empower Gideon.

Step 4: Gideon obeys. God first tells Gideon to “go in the strength you have,” and he does it. And then when God tells him to whittle down the men so that God’s ultimate power will be more evident, Gideon obeys again. It doesn’t make sense, but he does it anyway.

Gideon abides, he receives and lives out a new identity, he’s radically vulnerable, and he obeys. And what happens after he does those four things? He’s victorious, and Israel experiences freedom.

Friend, I know that you may feel like Gideon right now as you face life’s challenges. You’re scared, you’re hiding, and you may even feel small and weak. I felt all those things. I doubted that there was anything but those things waiting for me in life. My drinking had clouded both my physical and spiritual eyes.

But guess what: Like Gideon, I am a mighty warrior. You are a mighty warrior. It’s part of the general identity we’ve all been given as children of God. How do I know? Because only warriors are given armor (see Eph. 6:10–18).

You have been given armor and are called to fight this battle—whatever “this battle” is for you. Go fight it! I know it may seem like you don’t have much to give, but God is saying, “Go in the strength you have.” And he’s going to take care of the rest.

Listen, I’m not telling you to do something I didn’t do myself. I know what it’s like. I didn’t have much strength when I hit rock bottom with my drinking. But with the little I had, I took a step. I made a commitment. And despite the odds—despite the family history of addiction, cravings, and trauma—stacked against me, I’m here now, writing these words to you, telling you that freedom is possible. I know it because I’ve experienced it.

God’s got you. I’ve given you the example. I’ve given you the steps. He’s given you the power. Now “go in the strength you have.” And don’t be surprised at what happens when you do.

You may not slay an army, but you will slay some dragons.

This is an approved excerpt from Jonathon M. Seidl’s new book, “Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic.” It is a radically vulnerable look at how even Christians have ongoing sin struggles, how sanctification can be “messy,” and how to break free. It is now available wherever books are sold, including Amazon.

If you feel small, scared, or unqualified for the battles in front of you, remember Gideon’s story—and Jon’s. God doesn’t wait for perfect people; He meets the trembling, the tired, and the trying with a call to go in the strength you have. The miracle of resilience isn’t found in having endless energy—it’s found in the simple, surrendered steps of faith that invite God’s power to move through us. You don’t have to muster up strength today. Just take the next step with what you have, and trust that God will meet you there.

Next week is a guest post from Will Parker Anderson.