If the deities help us, why do we still need to make an effort?

Because even with the deities' help, our own work remains ours to do. When we encounter something we cannot do, we need to be willing to learn and face it. We cannot simply say 'I do not know how,' hand our entire life over to a deity, and wait for everything to be handled for us.

It is like learning addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in primary school. Once you are an adult working in society, you cannot summon your primary school teacher every time you need to calculate something. The teacher taught you so you could learn. Spiritual practice likewise helps us grow step by step. First do what you can. If you have genuinely tried and still cannot handle something, seek someone more capable to help. Once you learn, you can help others too.

If work is going poorly, first consider whether you lack skills or interest, or whether the environment or relationships with colleagues are a problem. Miao Yuan has also reminded us that sometimes the deities have already helped, while our own way of speaking and acting still needs adjustment. Identifying the problem shows where change can begin. If you want more satisfying income from work, work diligently. If you hope to meet a good partner, also become a better person yourself, connecting what you do with what you hope for.

Handle tangible matters through tangible means. When intangible assistance is needed, you can also ask the deities for help. Sincere faith is more than repeated worship and requests. It includes honestly examining whether you have laid the necessary foundations and followed your prayers with effort. If things have not improved, first consider what more you can do, rather than immediately concluding that the deity has not protected you.

I have used a hundred-meter race as an example. If the finish line is at one hundred meters and you stop at sixty, you have not finished, however fast you ran before stopping. Seeking work is similar: look for opportunities, submit applications, and pursue interviews. Making your résumé visible and then lying at home waiting is different from actively looking for work. First consider whether you are truly moving toward your goal.

The deities' help is like turning a headwind into a tailwind so running becomes easier. You still have to take the steps yourself. From our experience of contact with the deities, their assistance is not completely absent simply because you have not acted. Their support has been there all along. But if you stand still, even a strong tailwind will hardly show you the results of moving forward.

I have also used the image of ten or a hundred deities pushing someone from behind. However much support is behind you, you remain in place if you take no step. Being willing to take that step puts the support to use in moving forward. Alongside seeking divine help, make an effort for yourself so that faith works together with action in daily life.

I have also compared it to an English teacher. The teacher teaches you English, but when you need to give a presentation at work, you are still the one who must do it. You do not call the teacher to finish it for you. In my understanding of faith, the deities can give wisdom and their assistance, but we cannot skip how people use that help and carry out their work.

So when things go poorly, the only answers are not 'The deity did not protect me' and 'Everything must be my fault.' You can look further into whom you seek help from, your assumptions, the direction of your efforts, and the assistance you need. Faith in the deities should give you more strength to face things, rather than making every question that needs thought impossible to ask.