It’s a simple tack. Nothing spectacular, but when stuck in the tire that would cost close to $300 to replace, it can become devastating.

My husband and I drove along the old highway, a road less traveled, finding few places to stop for a bathroom break, a snack break, or a driver change. Needing that driver change, I pulled into a church parking lot. Since we weren’t doing the whole bathroom/store/fueling thing, we were a bit more observant. At least my husband was. He’s like that. He keeps an eye on the tires and other aspects of the vehicle. I make sure the water cups are filled.

As we settled back into the car, he informed me that we had a nail in one of the tires. Not what you want to experience just outside a small Georgia town on a Sunday afternoon. We checked tire pressures and seeing no issues, decided to move on, keeping check until we could do something about that nail.

The sun rose, and my beloved checked the tire. Since we’re in a place where we could change the tire or get it repaired, he decided to pull the offending metal to ensure we make it safely home. What had appeared to be a roofing nail, likely close to two inches long, was instead a tack, barely a half-inch. Instead of puncturing the tire, it merely rode within the treads.

Sometimes, we see circumstances and situations around us that seem catastrophic. We start making the plans to get to the repair shop, the doctor’s office, the person who can fix the problem. We hope beyond hope that we can get to that person, so that our situation can be repaired and restored.

When we look more closely, though, we may find that God has already taken care of the problem, that it’s not a problem at all, it’s just a tack in a tread.