“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Christians LOVE that scripture. I mean, it’s up there with the Lord’s prayer and “For God so loved the world,” John 3:16

It’s one of the first scriptures we learn in Sunday school. It’s the talisman against anything we have to do or go through that’s remotely difficult. 

Unfortunately, it’s really just another scripture we’ve taken out of context. 

Hear me out before you go clutching your pearls and deciding that I really am backslidden.

A little over a year ago, I was standing in the In-Between. 

No, I was not in an alternate universe or experiencing an episode of Stranger Things in real life, but I was in a weird place for sure.

Boxes were being packed…sort of. Garage sales were being planned. Our house in Texas was under contract, and our house here in AR was under construction. I had just passed my Arkansas real estate exam, making me licensed in two states, but Arkansas hadn’t processed my license yet, so I couldn’t do business here. And I certainly didn’t want to start new business in Texas. We’d interviewed schools for the kids here while planning a graduation party for our oldest there. My husband had entered the great chess match here of city permitting for new construction while wrapping up current investments in Texas. 

We weren’t really here, but we weren’t there either. 

We were in The In-Between. And frankly….it was difficult. 

I felt unsettled and in turmoil. It was like my world was on pause yet chaotic simultaneously. Like Neo in that scene in The Matrix where he’s dodging bullets in slow motion—except I was dodging packing tape and my own unmet expectations about how that season should be going.

Fast forward to today. We’re mostly settled, as long as you count the unpacked boxes lying around as “transitional modern” decor. The kids have just started their second year of school and are all doing smashingly. 

Real estate here is the same as in Texas. Hectic. 

Overall, however, we’ve settled into a nice routine. We love all most things Arkansas so far except for the ticks and the brown recluses and the poison hemlock. 

Anyway, I digress. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking back to my time in The In-Between, and I don’t like how I handled it. 

I was irritable, restless, and on edge most of the time. I barked at my children and was annoyed at the Hubs for things like walking by me too loudly, chewing audibly, coughing or breathing, or existing. I remember thinking things like, “Once we get to AR…as soon as we get settled into the new house…when the kids get into school… when we start working there… I’ll be able to relax.” 

Looking back at that person, I can’t say I really recognize her, and I certainly don’t like her very much. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what my problem was. 

I guess I could blame the struggle on starting menopause and trying to parent teenagers at the same time. But that would be a lie.

I even caught myself repeating in my mind that cliche scripture from above. The truth is, though, just like 95% of other Christians who misuse that scripture,  I missed the real lesson that Paul was trying to get through to the Philippians. 

I finally figured it out with a whiny teenager’s help just before school started this year. It was August 47th. You know, the day you realize you desperately need your kids to go back to school because your house has become a frat house and you’ve given up, and so everyone is sleeping and eating wherever they want, whenever they want. 

Yeah, that day. 

Anyway, the 14-year-old had just wandered into the living room where I was cleaning up God knows what from the floor. It could have been soda. It could have been a bodily fluid. Who knows? Whatever. With no thought to life or limb, she boldly announces, “I’m so bored.”

Luckily for her, I was down on my hands and knees, fishing out the soda can that was now stuck to the floor. 

I wish I could say I kept my cool and my kittens in check, but nope. The kittens were soon running loose all over that living room.

Needless to say, the little cretin found herself upstairs in the bathroom wielding a toilet brush and muttering quietly under her breath about how terrible I was.

And in the midst of wanting to list all of her clothes, phone, headphones, books, and every other one of her privileges on eBay, it hit me. 

These kids are never satisfied, never content.

But as adults, neither are we.

The Apostle Paul figured it out. 

“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to [a]be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:11-13

We can’t claim we can do all the things unless we’ve learned to be content in our season in Christ. 

Contentment doesn’t come from our living situation, our bank account, or who the president is. It comes from residing first in our identity in Christ and knowing He is with us. No matter our situation.

I know many Christians who dress the right way, say the right things, and do all the right things but have yet to find the peace that only comes with contentment in Christ.

I wish I could say I’ve got it all figured out, and I’m living life just like Paul, content in every season. But in all actuality, all it takes is an eye roll from a teenager or a hot flash that gets me sweating to start thinking things like, “When I get through menopause, I won’t be so crazy.”

Unfortunately, the Hubs and my children know this is, in fact, a lie. I was crazy before.

But also like Paul, I’ll keep striving though. Striving to live in the contentment of whatever the season. Even if it’s filled with whiny teenagers, hot flashes, and neurotic cats.

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