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Serving God can sometimes feel like an exercise in counting what is lacking. Too few leaders. Too few volunteers. Too little time. Too little energy. Many Christians know the feeling of looking at the needs around them and wondering whether they have enough to meet the challenge.

That experience has been familiar to ECMI worker Aislinn Duffy as she reflects on recent months of student ministry in Spain. With leadership changes, a small student team, and a new academic year approaching, there are plenty of reasons to feel overwhelmed.

Yet in the middle of these realities, Aislinn has found herself returning to the story of Gideon in Judges 6. Faced with an impossible task, Gideon questioned whether he was capable of what God was asking him to do. God's response was simple: “Go in the strength you have.”

The words have become a timely reminder that God's work has never depended on abundant resources or perfect circumstances. Again and again throughout Scripture, God chooses ordinary people, limited people, even reluctant people, and calls them to trust Him.

But the story does not end with Gideon's weakness. When Gideon protests that he is the least in his family and comes from the weakest clan, God's answer is not to convince him that he is stronger than he thinks. Instead, He gives a promise: “I will be with you.”

That promise changes everything.

For Aislinn, it means continuing to invest in students, trusting God with the future, and believing that His purposes are not limited by the number of leaders, volunteers, or resources available. For all of us, it is an invitation to stop measuring what we lack and remember who goes with us.

We may not have all the strength we wish we had. We may not see all the people, opportunities, or resources we long for. But God still says, “Go in the strength you have.”

And He still gives the same promise: “I will be with you.”
 

The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength that you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"
"Pardon me, my Lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
The Lord answered, "I will be with you..."

Judges 6:14-16a