Hello Dear Friends, we are living in strange times, aren’t we? Nothing feels as safely familiar as before because we’re all having to adjust to a new “normal” as we adapt to living with the threat of the coronavirus and its worldwide impact for ourselves and our nations.
It’s a new, unstructured way of living we’re not accustomed to, and don’t care to experience for long. We’re having to be imaginative and proactive to help conquer our fears because this virus casts a weighty shadow over everything, especially with alarmist news reports.
So how do we cope when the life we knew before alters by the day? To assist with lessening anxiety, it helps to focus on the positive, and on what we can do rather than what we can’t. These things are helping me: praying, breathing deeply and slowly, meditating, exercising gratitude, resting, and keeping a sense of perspective.
I’m also looking to God as my major means of soul help and support. God’s love is the antidote to fear and the answer to all inner restlessness and dis-ease. It’s the healing balm we need to comfort our sad and sorrowing souls. It’s the anchor of our lives, the compass of Hope our hearts long for.
“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us….There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.” — 1 John 4:18 The Message
God’s love provides the safety valve and soul exhale we need in swirling seas of uncertainty. It’s freely given, available to all, and abundantly nourishing for our souls. God’s love triggers remembrance of His faithfulness to us in the past and His sustaining grace available for us now.
Antidote
As the days segue into sameness
yet feel strangely unfamiliar to us,
can you see, can you believe
that what nourishes and sustains
us, deep in our souls, is holy love?
It is the antidote we seek,
the destroyer of anxiety, fear
and hate, the balm for every
chaotic change, every virus
that eats its way into our hearts.
Love came to earth in the shape
of an infant boy’s messy birth,
crying out for us to see his worth
while we open our arms, our eyes,
our minds and hearts to his love.
It calls us now to pay attention
and to fix our eyes more on its
solution to sin and sickness, to all
dis-ease of the human heart,
rather than allowing fear to build up.
If we can lift our heads and listen
to the sound of love seeping through
the filter of our souls, we might find
a different kind of focus taking place
as we surrender to peace and grace.
© joylenton
Do let me know how you are managing. I’m praying for all my readers and friends. You might like to check out my timely book Embracing Hope: Soul Food to Help Chase Away the Blues which is free on Kindle today. May God bless you and meet all your needs as He surrounds you with His all-encompassing care, comfort, protection and love. ❤
Poetry Joy 
What a gift. Your words swept over and through me as I hear the rain pound down outside. May God continue to strengthen you, my dear Joy.
Julie, I pray that God will rain rivers of refreshment on you, reviving hope, igniting faith, restoring love, and flooding you with peace. May He bring holy calm and grace enough to cope in place of residual anxiety and fear. May you and your loved ones find shelter under the protective shadow of His wings and discover supernatural rest. Blessings of health and strength to you, my dear friend. xo 💜
Whoa! Thank you Joy! Receiving all of this as I pray and cook and pray some more. Love, Julie
You’re most welcome, Julie! May you receive the blessing deep into your heart. Your intercession is blessing so many but those who refresh others also need to rest and be refreshed themselves. I’m so happy to be a small part of that refreshment for you. Love, Joy xo ❤️
Thank you, Joy. God’s love truly settles the soul, and brings peace-filled perspective. This is beautiful and encouraging, thank you for sharing. I look forward to checking out your book. God bless you as you continue to press into His love, grace, health, and provision. ♥
Yes, it does, Jacquie, in a truly remarkable way. I’m so glad you were encouraged here, and I pray my book will bring even more encouragement, hope and nourishment for your soul. Blessings of hope, health and peace to you, my friend! 😊💜
Your book is nourishment to the soul. Thank you for sharing. 💕
Jacquie, thank you so much for downloading a copy of my book! It’s good to hear that you’re already finding it nourishing for your soul. Have a blessed reading weekend, my friend! 😊💕
Dear Joy,
Oh I am so thankful God gave you such beautiful and true words of comfort to share with us. His Love is the only antidote to this constant din of anxiety & fear that is around us. I am on a social media pause today, to still those sounds, and to listen for His voice instead. Your words came at just the right time this morning. May I let His love fill me with His hope. And may His love continue to carry you, my dear heart-friend. Love & blessings to you across the sea. Xoxo
Dear Bettie, I’m grateful for them too! I didn’t plan to write just yet and thought I wouldn’t have anything topical to say. But the poem came first a few days ago and the words were my second attempt at a post because the first one mysteriously vanished from the dashboard. I guess God knew I needed new ones today instead! It’s a wise move to distance ourselves sometimes from the multiple voices clamouring for our attention so we can quieten our souls and spend time in prayerful solitude. I’m so pleased these words were timely for you. May you overflow with holy Hope and peace as you rest yourself in God. Much love, blessings, ongoing prayers and hugs to you, my dear heart-friend across the pond. xoxo ❤️
God has always been the anitdote to so many of life’s ills. It has always been that way.
Have a blessed weekend Joy.
Be safe.
You’re right, Drew, He has always been the antidote for all that ails us, and it has ever been that way. The cross is the greatest evidence of them all of God’s supreme, sacrificial love and heart for mankind. Bless you, friend. Stay safe and as well as possible as you seek to recover your health and strength.
Thank you.🙏
I love this beautiful poem, Joy. Also the creative graphic you created with it on. Yes, His love is surely the antidote and Compass of hope we long for. Thank you for refreshing my spirit with the comfort of His love. May we “lift our heads and listen to the sound of love seeping through the filter of our souls!” Love and blessings of safety, strength, and peace to you!
Dear Trudy, I’m so thankful for having refreshed your spirit with the comfort of God’s love because you have done exactly the same for me today! We seem to be thinking along similar lines. I love it when God confirms a message in that way. Blessings, love, hugs and prayers for safekeeping and protection for you and your loved ones! xo ❤️
Wonderful to know that we are cared for by One who is beyond all the worst that be in this world.
https://dcbverse.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-lord-is-in-control.html
Amen, David, indeed it is! Thank you for joining in with the conversation here. Bless you, friend.