After making 6 errand-stops this afternoon, I was finally heading home on an expressway when the familiar red and blue flashing lights of police cars ahead made me think, “Oh oh.” Driving closer, I counted 7 squad cars plus several emergency vehicles and tow trucks clustered around an accident scene in the median. The centerpiece of the commotion was a giant upsidedown semi-truck.

The three lanes on my side of the highway didn’t slow while passing the chaotic scene, but on the other side, with lanes partially blocked by the accident, cars and trucks were stopped for miles. And because of a wide curve on the highway, most of those stuck in traffic couldn’t see the reason for the delay.

They couldn’t see the flashing lights or the overturned truck or the cadre of highway workers trying to bring order. Drivers who were stuck in the jam-up but short on time were no doubt frustrated at the forced rescheduling of their plans and were probably hoping that at the end of the whole mess there would be someone to blame.

As I continued driving past the long lines of congested traffic on the opposite side of the road, it impacted me that I’d seen the accident they hadn’t yet come to, so I knew something they didn’t. The cause of their holdup wasn’t lane closures or construction or line-painting but a life-and-death disaster, immediately ahead. I also knew that no matter how irritated these drivers became while waiting to move forward, once they’d inched ahead enough to get a look at that heap of twisted metal, their anger would melt away.

Coming in its place would be a series of rapid-fire questions: What happened here? Where’s the truck driver? Is he alive? Was anyone else hurt? Or killed? What if I’d been driving a few seconds earlier? Would I have been in that accident?

These would be important questions to ponder as they’d get their first glimpse of the accident, gaping at the wreck. By the time they would have passed, their “What’s the delay?!” would have switched to “Oh my goodness!” maybe even landing them in a place of gratitude for their own safety, hopefully gratitude toward God.

None of us should be without a steady heartbeat of thankfulness toward the Lord. His rescues are consistently happening, even if we’re unaware of exactly what he’s saved us from or how he’s done it. To be sure, though, he is preventing mishaps and tragedies by the dozens, over and over again, every single day as we move through our regular routines.

And today I was reminded that once in a while he even lets us in on the specifics, as he did with the highway accident. The fact that none of us were in it should automatically make us truly thankful.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)