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 New Jersey might, so I dug them out of the back of my closet while packing for my recent holiday travels.

The soles still had mud and grass on them from some prior adventure the year before.  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

(originally posted 1/10/11, but without the impressive picture – some lessons are worth reviewing again!)