Psalm 94:19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

It was the bottom of the 9^th. We were down by three as I stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded. I’d faced this pitcher many times. He knew I always took the first pitch. This was the pivotal moment. All my father had trained me to do in Little League and Pony League was leading up to this moment in the championship game.  Here it came as always, low and outside corner but in the strike zone. I drove it to the far right center wall clearing the fence by only a foot or two but so fast and powerful the outfielders had no time to react.

The crowd erupted, the bench emptied standing around home plate celebrating with each runner and the good work they had done to set up this moment. As I turned third headed for home I looked up into the stands for my father. He was nowhere to be seen and my heart sank. The delight of my soul was to do my father’s will. Without him it all became meaningless.

We all have a selfish streak in us. The motivations of our hearts is to derive pleasure. If there is no pleasure in life, what is the point in going on? Life would be meaningless. Even in the very best of selfless acts we do for others, there is that tinge of soulful delight in knowing that we have done the Father’s will. God the Father made us that way.

Proverbs 16:1-3 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Here is another spiritual lesson from the game of chess. When attacking the King cut off any square that will lead to his escape. It is not enough just to chase the King around the board, you must cut off his escape route.

Spiritually speaking, God has provided a foolproof escape plan. He will always provide you with an escape plan? Do you know where to move? Do you know when to move? Will you move?

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

A roaring lion is an old lion. He is too slow to catch his prey, so his roar is meant to freeze his prey with fear. That is why Peter warns us to be sober and vigilant, not to panic, to know your escape route and to move in that direction when threatened.

I see panic as a threat that is often the only danger around us. A crowd is aware of the threat of a terrorist attack and in a concert a transformer overloads with a loud bang. The crowd panics and innocent people are trampled as they rush for the exits. This happened because people failed to do the first thing required in that situation; threat assessment. The first step in any escape plan is threat assessment.

We live in a time where situation awareness is demanded of us for health and safety of ourselves, our loved ones, and those close to us. We want to live in freedom. The enemy wants to kill, steal and destroy our freedom. (John 10:10)