God On a Porch Swing

Nov 11, 2017

5 min read

Have you ever been so weary and exhausted that you feel like you simply cannot take another step? Your greatest passions feel flat, colors seem dull and the emotional tank is drained. Sometime in 2016, I experienced these feelings because I had reached a point of exhaustion like none I ever experienced before. This exhaustion carried a weariness that came not from busyness or ministry but from constantly contending for the manifestation of the promises of God in my life. Although producing a strengthening of faith and trust in God and in His Word, these seasons can cause one to begin to strive and lose joy and hope, forgetting to stay at the feet of Jesus. That is exactly what happened to me.

Please hear me when I say that there is always a time to pick up our weapons and fight! A believer has the ability and right to always speak, declare and decree God's Word with the authority they have in Christ. I do believe that God also honors us as we learn to agree with what He says and therefore contend for those promises that He has spoken over us. "Contend" in this context means to not just fight against difficulty, but to fight for truth. Seasons always exist where we will need to fight for the things that God has said over our lives. Contending establishes good things in us, and like Jacob who wrestled with God (Genesis 32:22-32), we may walk away with a bit of a changed appearance and a new name. Hopefully when we contend we do so from our time in God's Presence and not out of our own strength and head space.

During this season in 2016, I grew weary because I found myself focusing more on the contending and rationalizing in my head than on the enjoying my Jesus or allowing Him to enjoy me. I found myself slipping into warrior mode - arms swinging and sword flailing while I was an emotional heap of a woman always trying to take thoughts captive - but I actually forgot my identity as a daughter that could just sit back and trust my Father. I found myself exasperated from the fight. My armor felt too big, too heavy for me. I would speak and declare the promises of God over myself yet my declarations had become just another ineffective and exhaustive task - without power from my intimacy with Him - and I found myself over and over again incredibly tired and empty of joy.

One afternoon during a long nap, I dreamed that God was sitting on a porch swing. All around stood children of God who were recently at war and who knew the art of contending ... yet had stopped and put down their swords in order to sit in the swing with their Heavenly Father. They chatted with God, they laughed with God, and they rested on His chest. I had a very strong sense that God prefers for his Warriors to just sit with Him for awhile rather than being in the constant fight. To sit as a child with a child's faith and let God be Himself - a big, strong Daddy that is safe and secure. I heard the Spirit of the Lord say to me in then, "You are a daughter before you are a warrior."

This dream was not just for me. It is also an encouragement for God's people during their season of contending and what feels like onslaught while hope may feel like it is fading away. The kingdom of God is a better, more real version of the Earthly Kingdom that we live in. In the natural realm, a soldier or military person would run straight into battle when needed and not retreat. Soldiers train this way and like them this is what we see and replicate with our natural eyes. But the Heavenly Kingdom allows for us to retreat first and then fight with greater power after we have rested in His lap for awhile. We must not forget that we are a child before we are a warrior.

And we know the inevitability of war. But when war comes against us - before we go out and meet it head on - we need first to run with childlike faith to our Safe Place. Proverbs 18:10 says it best: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs to it and is safe and set on high [far above evil]" (Amplified). When you first come into His Presence as a child He fills you up and sends you out as more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). And He arms you with joy (Psalm 16:11). His Presence actually provides us with everything we need to change the world. Being with Jesus is what empowers and compels us to love and to do what is right (2 Corinthians 5:14). We desperately need Him.

Sometimes being with our Father - the very thing we were made for - may feel like running away or retreating. We find strength in our Strong Tower, in Abba's lap just resting as a child. The enemy loves to twist this truth and make us feel like we look weak or fearful, but the truth is that there is LIFE and POWER in the Refuge. Power comes from just sitting in Daddy's lap on the porch swing. The porch swing allows for comfort, peace and enjoyment, and this makes everything else appear small in comparison to His giant love. The Bible also says in several places that God's timing is not ours (2 Peter 3:8 and Ecclesiastes 3:1, to name a few), but that is not an excuse to avoid running to Him and allowing Him dote on us as His kids. He created us for just that.

We have swords and we have armor to use (Ephesians 6), but I now believe that our greatest resource is our identity as His child. If we do not know or believe fully this identity we may have a constant battle of wielding swords that are too heavy for us, having to deal with feeble arms and sore feet, all the while operating from constant weariness. We must remember that a believer became a child before they were ever a warrior, and that children find strength, joy and rest in their Father's lap. It is important to define yourself by the way the Father sees us, and not in our ability to fight, pray, prophesy, teach or carry a sword. As His children we need to see and feel His approval, affection and how much He outrageously delights in us so that we avoid the trap of performing for His delight.

Feel the freedom of putting down your sword for a moment and run to His lap. He will give you strength and you can exchange your weariness for rest while He gives joy for mourning and hope for despair! All you have to do is just be (Psalm 46:10).

**This is an excerpt from my book, "Daughter in the Meadow," to be released January 2018**

Mandy Woodhouse is a daughter, wife, photographer, writer, painter, preacher / speaker, missionary, revivalist and absolute lover of Jesus. Originally from Lafayette, Louisiana she currently resides with her handsome Australian husband in Aiken South Carolina where they as associate pastors at Glory City Church of Aiken. They also run an itinerant revivalist Ministry. Mandy is passionate about using her writing to see Jesus transformation in others and she is on a mission to challenge people into greater intimacy with the Holy Spirit so that they can know their identity in Him.