“They say I’m having a heart attack,” came my husband’s breathless voice on the other end of the phone. It was mid-May, I was sitting in my morning quiet time chair, Bible spread open on my lap when the phone rang.

I couldn’t even wrap my mind around the fact that my seemly healthy 45-year-old husband had left for work an hour earlier and was now being taken to the hospital by ambulance. How is this happening? The tangling of the potential “what ifs” flooded my mind nearly drowning me, as I hurriedly dressed and prepared to race to the hospital. I felt detached from my own body and this unbelievable circumstance as I called our oldest son to meet me at the hospital and my mother to come to wake my younger son and join us.  I hardly remember driving the car to the hospital that morning, but I do vividly remember the gentle reminder of Truth rising from within my heart.

Having spent time in the Word of God just moments before, the Lord reminded me of the psalm I had been tending into my soul. Psalm 28. Verse seven drifted back into my mind like a warm blanket covering my anxiety.

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song, I give thanks to Him.”

The words like a balm seem to pull me in, tethering me to the solid rock I needed at that moment. The days of ICU and the weeks of medications and learning new rhythms with my husband created a swirling that could have left me dizzy. But instead, I remembered the grace of the tethering and consistently returned to the Word of God and the reminders of truth therein.

In a season several years before, when my marriage walked a tightrope and God seemed so far away, in desperation I begged God to teach me to hear His voice. Previously learning to tether my heart to truth in that year of spiritual discouragement was gold to me now in this new trial. God had taught me that as the Gardener of my soul, He was the One who by the seed of His Word would tend and grow fruit as I leaned into Him. I began to consistently, regardless of how I felt, just show up. Using my simple method of Bible study, I would tend through a verse or two each morning and trust the rest to God. Slowly but surely, I saw Him bear fruit from that season.

God is faithful to do His part and draw near to us as we draw near to Him as James 4:8 promises. Even in trials that shake the foundation of our lives or seasons that leave us drifting, there is an anchor behind the veil to which we are invited to, by faith, lean with the confidence that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6).

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Mariel Davenport knows the power of seeking God through His Word. She is passionate about equipping others to tend their soul by the Word through her TEND method, via Scripture journals, Bible studies, a podcast, and Tend Gatherings. A teacher and writer at heart, Mariel reaches across all ages and denominations with the joy of knowing God through His Word. Married for nearly 25 years and mom of two grown sons, Mariel enjoys salsa from her garden as she pursues the Gardener who tends her soul. Tend your soul with her free booklet, Tools for Tending your Soul at marieldavenport.com/start.