I’m currently working on a new book and have been having to go back into old manuscripts from previous books I’ve written to help frame up something in the new book.
I came across this passage from my first book, “Daughter in the Meadow,” and found it interesting how my understanding and revelation has grown over time.
Here’s an insert from the book, and my current take on it now. I hope it encourages you!
“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 Abba. They chatted with God, they laughed with God, and they rested on His chest. I had a very strong sense that God's preference for his Warriors was to just sit with Him for a while rather than being in the constant fight. To sit as a child and let God be Himself; a big, strong Daddy that is safe and secure. I heard Graham Cooke make a statement in one of his many amazing teaching series regarding God being our refuge when we are at war, and how this is a key part of our identity. His statement made me think more about this vision, and I heard the Spirit speak boldly regarding my own identity. I heard the Spirit of the Lord say to me, "You are a child before you are a warrior."
What another life-altering phrase spoken to my heart by a good, good Father.
This is also an encouragement for God's people during their season of contending and what feels like onslaught. In the natural realm, a soldier or military person would run straight into battle without a second thought and not retreat. Soldiers train this way and like them this is what we see with our natural eyes. But the Heavenly Kingdom calls for us to retreat first and then fight with greater power after we have rested in His lap for a while….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 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 march into His Presence as a child He sends you out as more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37).
Sometimes the very thing we were made for feels 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 enjoyment, and this makes everything else appear small in comparison to His giant love.
We have swords and we have weapons (Ephesians 6; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6), but our greatest resource is our identity as 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 and having to deal with feeble arms while camping in constant weariness. We must remember that we are children before we are warriors, and that we find strength and victory in Abba's lap and in His eyes and not in our ability to fight, intercede, prophesy or carry a sword” (Daughter in the Meadow, 2019).
The above was written in 2018, published in 2019, and the essence of it remains now in 2025. The only addition that I would make is to remind you that sitting with the Lord, and running to Him before going to war, is most definitely NOT an excuse for abdication.
To abdicate: to give up a position as king, or to fail to take responsibility for something
We often abdicate our responsibility to carry our buckler (the smaller, mobile hand-held shield in the Old Testament) into new territories because we get comfortable hiding behind our large, stationary shields of prayer.
We are children first, and we find our rest, strength and endurance in HIM alone. But we are also called to take the Kingdom of God violently, and by force (Matthew 11:12). What we need more than ever in this season is WISDOM to know when to run, when to fight and when to take ground.
The war has been raging for a while now, but the majority of us are only waking up to it now. We can no longer abdicate!
But being a child first and finding everything we need in that place of rest with Him – that never changes 😊
Much affection,
Mandy
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