Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on the ways God equips us for the assignments He’s placed on our lives. First, I shared that our equipping begins with the legacy we inherit, the genealogical heritage that shapes us. Then last week, we looked at how God equips us through deliverance, confronting the root issues, cycles, and traumas that try to hold us hostage, and He gives us power to rise and walk free.
Today, I want to share yet another way God equips us, through encouragement.
Job reminds us that God speaks in many ways: through dreams, visions, instruction, even warnings (Job 33:14–17).
One morning, I awoke from a dream in which I was preparing an encouragement toolbox for a young woman, a new believer in the Lord. In my dream, the box was a deep cherry-colored wooden case, almost like an egg box. Inside, each egg sat in a little marked space: thanksgiving, praise, spoken word, and more. I found myself telling her, “When you feel down, open this box and begin to encourage yourself in the Lord.”
When I woke, my mind went immediately to David in 1 Samuel 30. Scripture says he was greatly distressed. His men were weeping. Their families had been taken. They even spoke of stoning him. Yet the Bible says, “But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (v.6). The Hebrew word there, ḥāzaq, means to strengthen, to take hold, to support, to make strong.
What struck me most was the order of events: David encouraged himself before he prayed. He couldn’t even reach for the ephod until he first reached for courage.
Prayer requires strength. Sometimes, when we are crushed under discouragement, grief, or mental burden, we can’t even get to prayer until we first remind ourselves of who our God is.
That’s when I understood my dream; each “egg” in the box was a tool of strength for moments of distress.
My Encouragement Box includes:
- Thanksgiving – recounting the blessings of the Lord, big and small.
- Praise – declaring who I know God to be, in song or in speech.
- Prophecy to myself – aligning my words with His Word, speaking truth over my own life.
- Listening to sermons/teachings – letting faith be stirred by hearing the Word again.
- And if the heaviness lingers? Repeat.
These tools are not just for me; they are part of my equipping so that I, as an “older woman” (Titus 2:3–5), can strengthen others. Encouragement is contagious. When we find courage in God, we can pass courage to the next generation.
Friends, we all need an encouragement toolbox. We need something to reach for when the weight of life tries to press us into despair. Because like David, once we find our strength again, we are able to pray, to hear God’s instruction, and to move forward.
A Prayer
Father, I thank You that I can wake with my mind on You. Thank You for reminding me that there is a generation of women coming after me that You are calling me to teach, mentor, and cover. Thank You for showing me that I am now among the “older women” You speak of in Titus 2. Train me, Lord, to encourage myself so that I can be an encourager to others. May my speech be laced with thanksgiving, filled with praise, rooted in prophecy and Your Word, so that in times of distress I can stand strong. Holy Spirit, lead me continually into this truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.