Michi’s arguments that there is no divine intervention are not serious.
But it’s also impossible to know when the Holy One does intervene for me.
So the point is to make an effort*, but at the same time to be in a mental position that in the end the great King is the one who will decide (unless He has abandoned you to the laws of nature).

*Effort means, for example, going to see an orthopedist when your back or knee hurts, but on the other hand, it’s advisable not to “go crazy” and run around getting 4 different medical opinions, and on top of that pay a lot of money to a private specialist.
That דווקא shows a lack of trust in God. There is a certain point where you need to know how to let go.

I highly recommend that you do not read Michi’s books; they’re a waste of your time. Pure boredom.

Ehud, you’re giving a definition of effort by way of an example; maybe you have a more precise, serious definition? Thanks for the recommendation—I’ll read them and tell you whether you were wrong or not.

If you’re looking for an approach that’s closer to the Rabbi but not quite,
then if I’m not mistaken there is a view I saw in the book Cheshbon HaNefesh (though not long ago I looked back through it quickly and didn’t find it there), that a person should rely on his own judgment and do what is proper, and that is the effort—as if to trust his own thinking. And I assume the intention is neither excessively nor dismissively.
The Pele Yoetz mentions that a person should make an effort because of the doubt that he is subject to nature. Look, for example, under the entry “Medicine,” and afterward one can be more precise under the entry “Livelihood,” although toward the end there is some contradiction.

Besides that, I have something that I think can be derived from the book of Ezra that I’ve never seen anyone bring, but to this day no one has really responded to what I said when I presented it to people, and most of them didn’t understand or didn’t look. Or maybe I’m wrong, but no one said that either…
And this is his simple statement, that after he began the journey to the Land, you can see that he too got tangled up trying to explain the relationship between effort, trust, and providence:
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a straight path for us, for our children, and for all our possessions. For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, saying: The hand of our God is for good upon all who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all who forsake Him. So we fasted and sought this from our God, and He granted our request.”

That implies that he really did think it would be proper to ask for troops and horsemen, but because of a secondary theological-explanatory reason he refrained. And on the other hand, as a result he prayed, and thus he was answered.
So it’s as if he sort of relied (through prayer) on the Holy One in a pressing situation. But ideally one needs effort; only if that isn’t possible do you pray and rely on providence, etc. And maybe it can be explained in other ways too.

EA,
I don’t really have a definition of effort, and there are things that I think shouldn’t be defined, but simply lived.
If you’re still looking for a definition for “effort,” then in my opinion it’s simple: “to know when to let go.”
I’ll give examples of how this is expressed in practical life:

A. If you’re going to a job interview, don’t think you need to dress perfectly, or know how to answer questions perfectly, etc.
B. If you’re dating a woman, don’t try to impress too much.
C. Don’t flatter.