"The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God." Joshua 23:9-11
Any success I may experience in life is a result of God's awesome power - not my own, for I am the weakest of men. With Him beside me, thousands will fall.
So why do I so easily bow down to idols of my own making? Why am I not more careful to love the Lord my God?
The gods I sometimes worship are not made of wood or stone, but they are just as real. Maybe it is affection or kind words that I depend upon to make me happy. What happens when they elude me? How is it that I can be on a mountain top when I have received attention from another, but the moment I feel ignored and alone, I find myself under the mountain rather than on it? Maybe it's because I get so focused on being loved that I forget to love in return. If I could be more careful to love, I might not feel so unloved at times.
Lord, I feel trapped in an endless cycle. Have I quit receiving love because I quit giving love? Or is it that I have quit giving love because I quit receiving it? (Which came first - the chicken or the egg? It doesn't matter! Either way, you end up with soup.) Help me to focus more on giving in spite of what I am receiving. Help me to love when I feel unloved.
Rout the enemies from the lands You have promised.