“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

PSALM 34:18 (NIV)

The brake lights ahead came on suddenly. I eased off the gas and felt the car slow beneath me. Traffic was backing up fast, which was unusual for this time of morning. I checked the clock on the dashboard. I had time, but not much. My mind started calculating how long this delay would cost me.

Then I saw the flashing lights. Red and blue streaked across the gray morning sky. A sheriff’s vehicle was weaving through the stopped cars, trying to reach whatever had happened up ahead. I watched drivers shift their vehicles, making space where there seemed to be none. Slowly, the path opened, and the officer moved through.

As I inched forward, I could see the wreckage. Glass covered the road like scattered stars. A car sat crumpled on the shoulder, its front end smashed, airbags deflated and hanging lifeless—the kind of accident that makes you hold your breath, the kind that reminds you how fast everything can change.

But then I saw him—a young man standing on the side of the road, talking to an officer. He was whole. He was walking. He was alive.

I exhaled. My frustration about the delay melted into something else: gratitude, relief, a deep awareness that this could have been me. How many mornings had I driven this same road without incident? How many times had I arrived at work safely and never stopped to thank God for the trip?

We ask for so much. We pray for blessings and breakthroughs. We want promotions and provisions. But how often do you thank God for what didn’t happen—for the accidents that missed you, for the dangers you never saw because He moved them out of your path?

The traffic started moving again. I passed the wreckage slowly, carefully. That young man was still standing there—shaken, but safe—protected by something greater than luck.

As I merged back into the flow of the highway, I whispered a prayer: Thank You, God. Not for more. Not for better. Just thanks. Thanks for every uneventful drive. Thanks for every safe arrival. Thanks for the mornings I woke up healthy and whole.

Sometimes God’s greatest work isn’t in what He gives us. It’s in what He shields us from.

The best blessings are seeing them seen on others around you.

Keep moving forward,

Dr. Key