✝️ Striving Wears You Out. Passivity Kills The Soul.

Good morning, my brothers! Many of us become paralyzed or worn out because we struggle to understand the interaction between the sovereign work of God and our responsibility in living the Christian life. Today, we’ll look at the “holy tension” of obedience…in God’s power. Let’s go!

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PERSPECTIVE
Striving Wears You Out. Passivity Kills The Soul.

For most of my life, I thought the Christian journey was about grinding hard enough to prove my worth to God and everyone else. Work harder. Push further. Make sure no one ever questions my value.

On the surface, it looked like discipline. But under the surface, it was fear. Fear of failing. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of not measuring up to the high expectations that came with being the son of accomplished parents and an A-type personality wired to perform.

The result? Decades of striving. Striving for applause. Striving for achievement. Striving for approval … from people and from God Himself.

It was exhausting. And worse, it was enslaving.

The Verse That Haunted Me

One verse became the fuel for my endless self-effort:

For years, I only saw the first half of this passage. Work out your salvation. I took it to mean, Try harder, Will. Do more. Earn His love. Prove your faith.

But the truth I missed was hidden in a small, explosive word: for.

For it is God Himself who is at work in me. Giving me the desire. Supplying the strength. Empowering the obedience.

This truth flipped my world upside down. Suddenly, Christianity wasn’t about me clawing my way to God’s approval. It was about God Himself energizing my will and my work for His pleasure.

John Piper calls this “the paradox of grace and effort.” He says, “God’s working does not replace our working. God’s working is the reason we can work. Our willing is God’s willing. Our working is God’s working.”

I spoke with a man recently whose challenge was the exact opposite of mine. He had been paralyzed, waiting for God to work and communicate clearly to him. Waiting for God to show him what He wanted him to do. Waiting…and waiting.

Until one day, a friend in his Bible study asked him how he was serving. He told him that he was “waiting on the Lord”. This friend asked him about his wife, his kids…and asked about the incredible ministry opportunity sitting right in front of him. The light bulb went off.

There it is: we can serve wherever God has placed us, if we keep our hearts and eyes open.

That’s the secret. Not passive waiting. Not self-reliant grit. But Spirit-empowered serving, a delicate mix of grit and grace.

Biblical Examples of Grace and Grit

God has given us flesh-and-blood pictures of what Philippians 2:12-13 looks like. Men who worked hard, but never mistook their own strength for the source.

Joseph: Steadfast in Secret Places

Joseph didn’t sign up for betrayal, slavery, or prison. Yet in every season (Potiphar’s house, the jail cell, Pharaoh’s court), he was faithful. He resisted sin when no one was watching (Genesis 39:9). He stewarded responsibility even when it looked pointless. And when God elevated him, Joseph’s words revealed his perspective: “God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).

He worked, yes. But he knew Who was really working.

Daniel: Resolve in a Hostile World

As a teenager ripped from his home, Daniel “resolved not to defile himself” (Daniel 1:8). He took action, stood apart, and risked everything. Yet when it came to interpreting dreams, he admitted, “There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (Daniel 2:27–28).

Daniel’s courage was genuine, but his confidence was firmly rooted in God.

Nehemiah: Prayer That Builds Walls

Nehemiah wept, fasted, confessed, and prayed before ever laying a brick. But when the time came, he picked up the tools, organized the workers, faced his enemies, and refused to quit. Over and over, he credited God’s hand: “The good hand of my God was upon me” (Nehemiah 2:18).

He prayed hard. He worked hard. He knew the two were inseparable.

Paul: Poured Out by Grace

Paul’s testimony is breathtaking: “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and betrayed…Paul endured it all. Yet he never boasted. His effort was undeniable, but his source was always God’s grace.

Jesus: Perfect Obedience in Dependence

And then there’s Jesus. The very Son of God said, “The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing” (John 5:19).

In Gethsemane, with blood on His brow, He prayed, “Not my will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Even in perfect obedience, He depended entirely on the Father and followed where the Father led.

What This Means for Us

Brother, here’s the tension: you and I are called to action. To resist sin. To love our wives. To disciple our kids. To stand firm against temptation. To show up at work with integrity. To forgive when we’d rather fight. To encourage others. To share the truth of the gospel.

That’s our responsibility. We cannot shrug it off.

But every step of obedience, every holy desire, every ounce of perseverance is God Himself working in us. We don’t generate the power, we channel it. We don’t manufacture the will; we receive it.

We’re the pen, He is the Writer.

The Christian life isn’t about exhausted striving. It’s about Spirit-fueled living.

The Christian life isn’t about sitting around passively, either, expecting God or others to do the heavy lifting. It’s about Spirit-led action.

Piper puts it like this: “God’s command is possible because God’s power is at work. He gives what He commands.”

That’s the gospel truth: God doesn’t demand what He doesn’t supply.

Your Call to Grace-Fueled Grit

What does this look like tomorrow morning when the alarm goes off?

• When lust calls, you fight…but not in your strength. You cry out, “Lord, give me new desires,” and He does.

• When bitterness rises, you step toward forgiveness…knowing the Spirit supplies the grace you lack.

• When discouragement weighs heavily, you keep showing up…because God’s strength is upholding you.

Brother, stop white-knuckling your faith. Stop drifting in passivity. Live in the holy tension. Sweat it out in obedience. But do it fueled by His Spirit.

This is grace and grit. Not grace without effort. Not grit without grace. But grace-empowered grit.

Reflection Questions

Where in your life are you exhausted from self-striving instead of Spirit-striving?

1. What specific step of faith have you been delaying because you don’t think you’re ready, that you need to act on now, trusting God to supply all that you lack?

2. Which example—Joseph, Daniel, Nehemiah, Paul, or Jesus—speaks directly into your current battle? Why?

3. What would change this week if you began every step of obedience with the prayer: “Lord, You work this in me”?

Here’s a simple prayer to activate obedient activity:

“Father God, I confess I can’t do life as You desire in my own strength. Forgive me for striving to earn Your love or drifting in passivity. Today, I yield my will to Yours. By Your Spirit, give me the desire and the power to obey. Strengthen my hands for the work You’ve called me to. Guide my steps, guard my heart, and make my life bring You pleasure. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Brother, grace is not an excuse to sit back. And grit is not a license to boast. Grace and grit belong together. Work hard. Pray hard. Obey quickly. And trust that the God who commands is the God who empowers—every single time., both to will and to work for His good pleasure.