"Feeling a Little Cheated"

"Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle." (Psalms 89:43)
These little feeling things are almost at an end, so have patience with me, I am almost through with the melancholy complaints. If you did not know by now, melancholy is not just a word for sadness, it's a word that expresses a feeling of sadness, sadness that you dwell upon, but with no obvious cause. In other words, it's a lot like F.E.A.R., which stands for False Evidence Appearing Real; except this deals with sadness, not fear. You know, you can still have sadness without having fear; it's a proven fact, some of the most fearless fighters are full of sadness; in fact, it is a sadness inside that gives them the power to ignore the fear. Maybe a broken heart from a loved one that just walked out, or a close friend that was just killed in the battle. Sadness can be a very powerful force to overcome; it can also be totally false and based upon what we feel, not what is real. Here are a couple of good examples of what I am talking about: not having the ability or the courage to fight and stand. There are some of us that might feel a little cheated when it comes to fighting off temptations, or taking a stand for Christ. As if somehow God has not given us the abilities and talents he has given to others, and that makes us sad; almost the kind of sadness we felt in school as a child, to not have the skills to be picked for dodge ball, or talent required to stand up on stage. Why didn't God gift me like He did them? What you are really saying, is, 'I want what they got'; instead you should be saying, 'Lord, show me my gifts!' Maybe that's not how God has gifted you; maybe you're the one who cares for those wounded in battle, or the one that teaches future warriors how to love first and then fight. God has gifts for each and every one of us, and all of these gifts are as unique as we are, individually. I might be able to teach, but I don't teach the same as someone else; or I might be able to pray, but my prayers are personal between the Father and me; no one else has that special thing going on, because they have their own personal talks with the Father. But one thing is for sure, if we want to have a certain ability to fight off temptation or to take a stand for Christ, He has already given that to us, we just need to walk in Him! Instead, we spend more time looking at what we don't have and not what God has given to us; big mistake...
"Then Amaziah organized the army, assigning generals and captains for all Judah and Benjamin. He took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 select troops, twenty years old and older, all trained in the use of spear and shield. He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel. But a man of God came to him and said, "Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the LORD is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim! If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up. Amaziah asked the man of God, "But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?" The man of God replied, "The LORD is able to give you much more than this!" So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back to Ephraim. This made them very angry with Judah, and they returned home in great rage. Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir. They captured another 10,000 and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off, dashing them to pieces on the rocks below. Meanwhile, the hired troops that Amaziah had sent home raided several of the towns of Judah between Samaria and Beth-horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off great quantities of plunder." (2 Chronicles 25:5-14) NLT