It is being stuck in a situation that you did not know that was coming. That is where 4x4 shines.
About 15 years ago brother and I drove up on a situation where a couple was stuck in a ditch in a blizzard. Neither one of them spoke English. They were driving a 4x4 Suzuki Samurai. We were trying to push them out but we were not making it anywhere so I asked the couple if they had it in 4wd but they did not understand what I was saying, so I jump in the front seat and put it in 4wd and drove it out of the ditch within seconds. Never even spun a tire coming out of the ditch but with it in 2wd we were sitting ducks spinning in one place