Through Him Who Strengthens Me

“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13 NASB1995)

I live in the USA, in the state of South Carolina, and right now we have been hit with some pretty severe low temperatures for a southern state, and we have been having some snow storms and some ice storms, as well. And it appears that about 23 US states and nearly 200 million people are being impacted by this storm. And large numbers of households are presently without power to heat their homes and to cook their meals and to communicate with the outside world. And, if we were to lose power, I would not be able to write my daily devotions and to post them on the internet. 

But I do not know the extent of the damage that this storm has created throughout all these US states at present, but definitely some areas got hit much harder than others. So far we have not suffered any damage to our apartment home, but with the coming weeks’ worth of below freezing temperatures there is the possibility of people’s water pipes freezing and of causing flooding in people’s homes. We did experience this in our apartment in December of 2022 when the water pipes froze in the apartment above us which then flooded our apartment, and we were displaced for a week or so.

The biggest danger here, though, would be for people who had nowhere else to go, and who had no heat to warm them, and who might die in the below freezing temperatures we are expecting here for the next 7 days, it seems. We do have family we can go to if we lose our power, so I think we will be alright, but not everyone has family they can turn to in times such as these. Not everyone has a shelter available where they can go to get heat and food and a place to sleep out from underneath the freezing temperatures. And my heart goes out to them who have no place of refuge, nowhere to go.

And then we read Paul’s words here. And in other passages of Scripture he shared with us some more of the circumstances in which he found himself where he was stoned and left for dead, and where he survived multiple beatings and three shipwrecks and several imprisonments and hardships and many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure, with enemies pursuing him wanting him dead, and much more (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-29). And God got him through every one of those difficulties, and Paul kept on speaking the truth of the gospel of Christ.

Now, when the world falls apart all around us, and we lose the comforts this world has to offer us, and our lives get turned upside down, well, that is the norm for a lot of people in this world. Not everyone has the comforts of living somewhere where they have heat to warm them and a comfortable and warm bed to sleep on and food enough to fill their bellies. So, if we lose those things, even just temporarily, we should think of all those who have none of that, and yet many of them survive. And we should give God thanks for what we do have, by his grace. And we should not grumble.

I like Paul’s words here, and I have lived by them, but not always, and I must still live by them. I must be content with whatever circumstances God allows to come into my life, that he has allowed them for my good, and that good will come out of them in my life and in the lives of people whose lives are touched by mine. I do know what it is like to live on little, and on plenty. I have never gone hungry, but we didn’t always have much. But in whatever circumstances God allows to come into my life, I can survive them in his strength. And if I should die in want, it is God’s will to then take me home.

[Luke 21:13; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:3-12; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; Revelation 3:19]

Sing Praises  

Based off Psalms 6-9

An Original Work / November 30, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Sing praises to the Lord!

Tell of His wondrous works.

Afflicted, they cry out;

The Lord will not forget; 

The needy, not desert.

The Lord’s our refuge now;

A stronghold when we fear.

The Lord will ne’er forsake

The ones, who Him pursue!

Sing praises to the Lord!

With all my heart I sing.

I will rejoice in Him;

Sing praises to His name;

Tell of His wondrous works.

My shield is God Most High.

He saves those who believe

In Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

His grace has pardoned you!

The Lord accepts my prayer!

The Lord has heard my cries.

He is so merciful.

He heals my anguished soul.

The Lord has made me whole.

Give thanks unto the Lord.

Give praise unto His name.

Our Lord is righteousness.

Sing praises to the Lord!

Sing praises to the Lord!

https://vimeo.com/118438651

Through Him Who Strengthens Me

An Original Work / January 26, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love