“Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” (Psalm 44:22, NKJV)

There are those who teach that God always wants you to be prosperous and healthy. If you are sick or poor, then there must be something wrong. Either you don’t have enough faith or you have some hidden sin. Such “teachers” should be called “Job’s Comforters”. Their doctrine is destructive because it undermines the faith of suffering saints.

Jesus gave us a much more accurate picture when He said:

“In the world you will have tribulation...” (John 16:33, NKJV)

Paul and Barnabas strengthened believers, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying:

“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22, NKJV)

Psalm 44 is a complaint by the sons of Korah that in the past God drove out their enemies with a sword. But now He has cast them off, put them to shame, and no longer goes out with their armies. Their neighbors mock them, and they are the butt of all their jokes.

“All this has happened though we have not forgotten you. We have not violated your covenant.” (Psalm 44:17, NLT)

Like Job when he was suffering, the sons of Korah did not understand why God was allowing all these things to come against them. Had God abandoned them? Had He fallen asleep? It seemed that they were being killed every day; they were like sheep being slaughtered.

Now the apostle Paul quotes verse 22 in Romans 8:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35–37, NKJV)

Paul reminds us that our life in Christ is not always a bed of roses. Paul himself was no stranger to suffering. But none of these tribulations prove that God does not love us. In fact, it is impossible for them to separate us from Christ’s love. On the contrary, our perseverance through them is proof to others that Christ loves us and that we are super conquerors!

So don’t let bad circumstances or evil people get you down. Don’t let them stress you out or cause you to doubt. We were destined for such afflictions. But we are also destined to overcome them through the life and power of Christ in us. Believe it!