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Godly Work Ethic vs. Striving - My Uncut Thoughts
Monday, April 07, 2025
Godly Work Ethic vs. Striving
There are moments in life where everything feels like it's riding on one thing. I was talking with a buddy of mine the other day, and he was feeling this exact pressure. He said, "If I don’t do well at this one thing, we’re not going to be able to have kids on the timeline we want. We might have to move, put everything on hold." And I get it.
Whether you're an employee or a Christian entrepreneur, there comes a point where you start putting massive pressure on your work. You start believing your entire future is hanging on one moment of performance. But here’s the tension we have to hold: the balance between *striving* and *rest*, between *intensity* and *trust*.
And let me say this—"hard work" is a lazy phrase. What people usually mean is *intentional work*. Work that’s focused. Work with direction. It’s not about grinding 100 hours just to say you did. It’s about bringing intensity that’s aimed at a specific outcome.
But how far does that go? How much of your soul, your mind, your body, are you willing to give before you hit a wall?
I’ve been pushing hard lately—faith, family, business. All cylinders. And then this past weekend, my body tapped out. I caught a cold, and it wasn’t from being out or exposed. It was from burnout. I was just running myself into the ground.
There is a healthy amount of intensity required to produce results. But your soul also needs rest. And if you push past the point of diminishing returns, you’re not making progress—you’re making regression. Your decisions get worse. Your clarity gets clouded. You stop seeing what’s in front of you.
I think about bodybuilding. There’s the Arnold model: 3 hours a day in the gym, demolish your body. And then there’s Mike Mentzer’s approach: push to the point of optimal stimulation, then recover. Arnold was volume. Mentzer was precision. The older I get, the more I see wisdom in Mentzer’s philosophy. Stop before your output becomes counterproductive.
It’s the same with work. You can push yourself so hard that you start producing *less*. And worse—you miss the signal God is sending to *pause*. There’s a spiritual principle here: *striving* is like trying to swim against a raging current. When in reality, maybe you just need to walk along the riverbank. You’re over-efforting when what you need is direction.
This doesn’t mean every hard thing should be avoided. Some seeds take time to harvest. Some sales cycles are 12, 18, even 36 months long. If you judge your results too soon, you’ll rip up the seeds before they ever had a shot to grow. Be patient with your process.
Now here’s the thing that’s been working in my household. We’ve adopted this simple phrase:
**"We will do our best, and God will take care of the rest."**
We don’t operate from desperation. We don’t clench the outcome with white knuckles. Because desperation repels results. Especially in sales—if you’re desperate for a deal, your prospect can *feel* it. It leaks from your tone, your posture, your words. Desperation is client-repellent.
The cure? Trust.
Trust that if you do your best, God will handle the outcome. Let go of compulsive striving. Obsessive control. That mindset will wreck your relationships, ruin your peace, and rob you of joy.
Instead, integrate your faith and your work. Don’t treat them like two separate lives to balance. Your work is worship. Your business is ministry. Your diligence is an act of obedience.
And yes—seasons matter. A man with young kids at home has a different call than a single guy on the grind. Know your season. Honor your obligations. And don’t judge your fruit in the wrong season.
So if you’re grinding right now… pause.
Ask yourself:
- What’s my mission?
- Am I a Christian first, or a job title first?
- Am I operating from trust or from fear?
Put the keyboard down. Go outside. Hug your spouse. Laugh with your kids. Let your subconscious process. Let your soul breathe.
Then come back and work with focused intensity—not striving.
Because when you operate from rest, your output multiplies.
And when you *do your best and trust God for the rest*, you position yourself for both peace and progress.
That’s how I think about work. Let me know if this spoke to you—and what you'd like me to talk about next.
Payton Igo
Video Marketing Consultant
I’m Payton Igo—a ClickFunnels Certified video strategist and fractional CMO helping Christian entrepreneurs and B2B experts attract high-ticket clients with automated webinar and VSL funnels. I believe business is a calling, and I build systems that turn your expertise into consistent leads, sales, and impact.
www.paytonigo.com
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