I love my hiking boots.  Problem is, I don’t get to wear them too often.  Hiking in Florida doesn’t really require trail-gripping, mountain-friendly footwear.  But a trek or a snowstorm in NJ might, so I dug them out of the back of my closet while packing for my holiday travels.

The soles still had mud and grass on them from some prior adventure.  But when I scraped the mud off, I saw a shiny spot.  Looked like a tack was pushed into the bottom of the boot.

It wasn’t a tack.

I had to get a pair of pliers to pull it out.  It kept coming and coming, and when it was finally free, it turned out to be a 2” nail.  A rusty one at that.  It was so impressive I had to take a picture of it.  I literally shuddered when I realized what kind of damage it could have done to my foot if it had gone straight through.  And I had remained blissfully unaware of that potential past danger for almost a year.

It made me wonder how many other times God has intervened and protected me while I just went about my day, totally ignorant of His watchful eye and His safeguarding angels.  It made me a little bit more aware of how many things I have to be thankful for – things I might never even know about.

God could have chosen to teach me some other lesson on the day I stepped on that nail – a lesson involving a lot of pain and probably a tetanus shot and maybe even something worse. But instead, almost a year later, standing in my bedroom with a pair of pliers and a 2″ nail and a look of complete surprise on my face, He reminded me that He’s always looking out for me.

Even when I am blissfully unaware.

For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.               Psalm 91:11

The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Psalm 34:7

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. Genesis 28:15