day no. 15,165: anticipation and improvisation

"There are two basic ways to adapt. Sometimes we have enough situational awareness to understand a situation in advance and take preparatory action. This is anticipation. At other times we have to adapt to the situation on the spur of the moment without time for preparation. This is improvisation. To be fully adaptable, we must be able to do both." 
-- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

Proverbs 4:26
Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.

If you're watching where you're going, you'll get to where you want to go. Anyone with eyes in their head can look straight ahead and see what's next. You don't just point your toes where you wants to goes. You prepare for the obstacles you perceive ahead. 

But some things come out of nowhere and there's no way you could have seen them coming.

Proverbs 16:9
The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.

When the ground gives way where you didn't expect or the path proves more difficult than you anticipated, you must possess the ability to improvise or die. Either you pitch your old plans or you perish. Some prefer to have their plans pried from their cold, dead hands rather than adapt to the steps the Lord has established. If you refuse to be where you are by insisting on being where you'd like to be, you will end up where you don't want to go.

day no. 15,164: penfold... penelope page turns tenfold

Penelope Page Van Voorst,

Say, "Goodbye" to single digits and, "Hello!" to the last year of using one set of hands to communicate your years, because today, you are ten years old!

You love to bake and cook and be involved in the planning, preparation and serving of meals. You are a prolific writer and have filled up a google drive folder full of fantastical stories. You are an aspiring pianist and regularly compose songs which you delight in performing. You almost always have a book with you and read ravenously. You are smart as a whip and cute as a button. You are growing in independence and dependence in all of the right ways. You are taking responsibility for your self and for those around you. You want to serve and use your freedoms to bind yourself to others. Your curly hair is just game over. You are a beautiful young lady, yet you place little confidence in your outward appearance. Just the other night you made the comment that you are happy that God is growing you in outward beauty, but you are most interested in growing in internal beauty. You have been given a wise heart and I'm so excited to watch you grow into it.

Proverbs 31:28-31
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.

You desire to be a wise women. You want to be like your mom. I can think of no better goal in life. She is a great mother and you have been blessed not only to have her as a mom, but to realize the gift you have in her at such a young age in wanting to emulate her and be like her.

I love you, little lady. I love being your dad. I love that you love me. I'm so glad God made us family. You are a Van Voorst through and through and I can't wait to see how you advance the baton we're working hard to pass to you. You are going to be an awesome wife and mother someday. I can't wait to hold your children and tell them about how much fun I had being their mom's daddy.

You're just the best... and you're only gettin' better!
I love you,
Dad

day no. 15,163: a world of warcraft

"Adaptability is the law which governs survival in war as in life—war being but a concentrated form of the human struggle against environment." —B. H. Liddell Hart

Warfighting is merely the tangible manifestation of a greater reality: we live in a world at war. There is enmity in the form of imposing wills pressing upon each other and this friction is felt.

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
He shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise His heel.

War has been hard-wired into the human story by God since the Fall as observed in the early verses of Genesis 3. This struggle is real and is the undercurrent of every other legitimate struggle in existence. This is the baseline of all enmity. This is where it comes from and defines the jerseys of each team.

"God's will is that Christ's Kingdom should be encompassed with many enemies, His design being to keep us in a state of constant warfare." -- John Calvin

Our adversary, the devil, is a prowler and he is as crafty as the day is long. 

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He craftily adapts to the world as God directs. If God provides blessings, he tries to spin them as curses. If God curses, he attempts to paint them in the light of blessings. He is subtle and subversive and creative and effective. 

He is an inventor of evil. There are any number of ways to get a sum wrong, but only one way to get it correct. Satan's strategy is to create new permutations of the same evil in order to present what appears to be a new thing, something we hadn't prepared for; but if we're paying attention, we can adapt to his schemes by seeing them for what they are... the same ol' seductions.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

day no. 15,162: simpliciter

"Simplicity promotes speed; complexity slows things down. Simplicity should be central to our plans." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

Simplicity is not inherently virtuous or advantageous. To over-simplify a complex situation is to create one kind of problem and to over-complicate a simple situation is another kind.

Overall, simplicity is faster than complexity. Thoroughness tends to take longer than timeliness. However, if you act quickly, but incoherently, your action will be speedy, but inefficient and could end up causig additional actions that take additional time.

To be quick in the wrong direction is only to create different problems. 

Order is quicker than disorder.
Clarity provides simplicity.
Simplicity produces rapidity.

1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

God is not more complicated than He needs to be. He is complex, but not any more than necessary.

Things should be as complex as they are, but not more so. 

day no. 15,161: attacking future problems through present obedience

"Our enemy falls behind in a panicked game of catch up. As he tries to respond to our penetration, we attack his reserves and his command and control. As he counterattacks with his mobile reserve, we bypass with helicopterbome forces. Everything he does is too late."
-- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

Satan often employs this tactic successfully against Christians by convincing them to leave many problems for another day. But rest assured, if you leave important problems for another day, they will be problems on another day.

As a result, many Christians are doing things too late. They start thinking about, "How far is too far sexually in dating?" only after already having crossed the line. They buy a book on marriage only after domestic disturbances are already frequent. They go to a parenting conference only after their kids are presenting clear signs of heading the wrong direction. 

Satan prevents many good works by keeping Christians busy trying to fix their last problems instead of proactively attacking future problems through present obedience.

Proverbs 6:4-5
Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

day no. 15,160: where you can, when you can, to whom you should, for your neighbor's good

"In order to act consistently faster than the enemy, it is necessary to do more than move quickly. It is also necessary to make rapid transitions from one action to another. While
there are many types of transitions in combat, the important thing to remember is that transitions produce friction. Reduction of friction minimizes the loss of tempo that the friction
generates at the point of transition. A unit that can make transitions faster and more smoothly than another can be said to have greater relative speed." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

A baton pass produces friction. The transition from hand to hand reduces speed. The faster the pass, the quicker the speed. Do not be reluctant to pass it where you can, when you can, to whom you should, for your neighbor's good.

2 Timothy 2:1-5
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

"We must be faster than our opponent. This means we must move fast, but, more importantly, we must act faster than our enemy. The aim is to tailor our tactics so that we can act faster than the enemy force can react. Our ability to plan, decide, and execute faster than our enemy creates advantage that we can exploit." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

We please God by staying focused. We please our Lord by competing according to His rules. We please Jesus by running fast. We please the Spirit by reducing friction. We please the Triune God of heaven and earth by fighting the good fight and finishing in first place in the race we've been placed.

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

day no. 15,159: go fast and go hard, but go smart so you can go long

"To be consistent, superiority in relative speed must continue over time. It is not enough to move faster than the enemy only now and then because when we are not moving faster, the advantage, the initiative, passes to him. Most forces can manage an intermittent burst of speed but must then halt for a considerable period to recover between bursts. During that halt, they are likely to lose their advantage. We realize that we cannot operate at full speed indefinitely, and the challenge is to be consistently faster than the enemy." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

1 Corinthians 9:24-26a
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly.

The speed at which you can sprint can only be sustained for so long. Your top speed is only obtainable for set amounts of time. The amount of energy expended to reach top speed cannot be sustained over long periods of time. 

In other words, if you're running a marathon, sprinting out of the gate is a surefire way to lose that race. 

Consistent speed wins marathons. Speed over time creates a consistent advantage. Sometimes a burst of energy in the form of a sprint is advantageous, but a period of rest will be required to continue even at a snail's pace once the sprint can no longer be sustained. 

Sprint your leg of a relay, run the race in front of you, and pace yourself for the long run.

Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us

"With endurance, we not only outpace the enemy but maintain a higher tempo longer than he can." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

So go fast and go hard, but go smart so that you can go long.

Jeremiah 12:5
If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?

day no. 15,158: constant activity is not productivity

"Some leaders dissipate their units' energy on constant, unprioritized activity. Not all activities support the mission. A unit's energy is not easily replenished and should be treated as a precious resource to be expended only towards decisive goals." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

2 Thessalonians 3:11
For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.

Constant activity is not productivity.

There is a motion which is more akin to commotion than summation. It is not aimed at a particular goal, but rather it's goal is merely to keep shooting and reloading.

Un-prioritized action is under-utilized energy.

Energy costs something. It comes from somewhere and can be spent somewhere else, but it must be replenished if used and it cannot be stored indefinitely. It needs to go somewhere, but it can't go just anywhere. It needs to be used toward a particular end or it is spent in vain. 

Wasted energy exhausts resources and leads to exhaustion.
Focused energy uses resources and replenishes by achieving progress.

2 Timothy 3:6-7
For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Unfocused function never gets anywhere. It is always going and never arriving. It is learning without gaining knowledge. It is moving without accomplishing anything. It is spinning without having spun something.

In order to spend energy wisely, you have to know where you're trying to go before you take a step. If you want to see progress, you need to know, "progressing towards what?" If you don't know the target, you don't know if you're missing it. If you don't know the destination, you don't know which exits to take. If you don't know where you're going, your next steps do not matter; but if you have a particular place you want to go, you must take care to align your steps with your destination.

Proverbs 4:26
Ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established.

Direction determines destination.

day no. 15,157: laziness is wickedness incarnate

"Making maximum use of every hour and every minute is as important to speed in combat as simply going fast when we are moving. It is important to every member of a military force whether serving on staffs or in units—aviation, combat service support, ground combat, everyone. A good tactician has a constant sense of urgency. We feel guilty if we are idle. We never waste time, and we are never content with the pace at which events are happening. We are always saying to ourselves and to others, 'Faster! Faster!' We know that if speed is a weapon, so is time." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

Ephesians 5:15-16
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

The presupposition is that everyone is walking somewhere and sooner or later they're going to get there. It is also presupposed that time will pass whatever you do, so use it well before it's no longer available. Lastly, it is presupposed that the temptation is to fritter away your days doing whatever comes most naturally... which is evil.

Laziness is wickedness incarnate.

It is a refusal to move although the world is moving around them. Lethargy is embodied defiance, a refusal to get up and go; it's the warm embrace of atrophy.

To walk wisely is to have an internal game clock. You play the game aware of the time remaining. It also implies having an eternal game clock. You know what game you're playing and where you're trying to go with all of it. The present is informed by your future goals. You begin with the end in mind and act in the moment in keeping with what momentum you want to create.

day no. 15,156: speed kills

"I may lose a battle, but I shall never lose a minute." -- Napoleon

"Get there first with the most men." -- Nathan Bedford Forrest 

"When the great day of battle comes remember your training and remember above all else that speed and violence of attack are the sure road to success." -- General Patton

Speed kills.

It is a weapon in itself. If you can brandish speed, you can generate an advantage. 

Speed is the ability to be there before they are, to strike before they see you and to be beyond them before they know what hit them.

Jeremiah 12:5
If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?

Faster is not always better but it is always faster.

"Speed impacts on the enemy, especially his mind, causing fear, indecision, and helplessness. Remember, attacking the enemy's mind is a central tenet of maneuver warfare." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

Quick initiative and fast action force the enemy to react and the quicker the initiative and the faster the action, the less reaction time they have. Proactive assertion is always preferred to reactive compulsion. It is always better to choose your course of action that to have it chosen for you by your opponent. Acting fast is a surefire way to secure this advantage and the liberty of choice that accompanies it.

day no. 15,155: no push back

"Hit quickly, hit hard and keep right on hitting. Give the enemy no rest, no opportunity to consolidate his forces and hit back at you." —Holland M. Smith

When I was younger, I often imagined that being a boxer would be fun. Admittedly, I was only imagining the hitting someone part and not considering the fact that being a boxer means making yourself vulnerable to being punched back. 

While my younger self was naive in its imaginations of a battle where one is allowed to unilaterally pommel an opponent with no push back, it was not a bad strategy. You must acknowledge the reality of push back and anticipate it, but if you could, wouldn't you prefer to pound without the push back? You should expect it and not imagine your enemy simply allowing you to punch them until they say, "Uncle!" but if an altercation could go that direction, wouldn't you choose it? If you could initiate in such a way as to debilitate their ability to fight back, wouldn't that be ideal? 

Catch them off guard, throw them off script, confuse their efforts to recover and end the fight before they strike back. Go for a KO in the 1st round. Touch gloves and may that be the last time their gloves make contact with any part of you. 

day no. 15,154: swing away!

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

A good sermon must have good bone structure. It must know where it's going and what it's going to hang on. The destination must be clear and the path plotted meticulously with rest area stops, meal times, scenery and efficiency all taken into consideration. A good sermon will have this completed prior to Sunday morning.

A great sermon will have this completed with around a week to kill darlings, refine poetical power and contemplate the particulars of the upcoming message.

At this point in the process, now that my thoughts are all on paper and edited to a point, I attempt to do a mental run through without my notes. Do I understand the message well enough to take a 30,000 ft. view tour of the overall message? Do I have the sermon chunked in such a way as to know what I'm talking about broadly without requiring my notes? On a run or walk around the block, I try and walk/work my way through it from memory. I say it in my head and grow familiar with its content.

It's like the first part of sermon prep is all hammering out the sword in the heat of the blacksmith's shop and now the fun part is learning how to wield it. The hammering and tinkering and heat is necessary on the front end to produce a sword. But now the goal is to learn how to fight with this sword, to learn how to make its points puncture. This is the time to feel its weight in your hands and grow accustomed to it.

Too many preachers wait until last minute and barely get the sword pounded out and shaped properly before they need to swing it. 

If you're outline is completed a week out, you're in a great place.

Swing away!!!

Psalm 149:5-9
Let the godly exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishments on the peoples,
to bind their kings with chains
and their nobles with fetters of iron,
to execute on them the judgment written!
This is honor for all his godly ones.

Praise the Lord!

day no. 15,153: firmly fixed and light as a feather

Matthew 7:28-29
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Ecclesiastes 12:10-11
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

A good story whisks a person away and fixes them firmly where they are. It must captivate and inspire beyond mere circumstance and yet plant one assuredly back into circumstances.

If a story only whisks you away, it is powerless for the day and leads to resentment of the world that is and envy of a world that does not exist. If it only plants you firmly where you are, but does not cast a vision beyond it, the heart won't aspire or work hard today to achieve a better country.

A good story should leave one firmly fixed and light as a feather, grounded in reality and motivated by possibility, captivated by principles and comforted by promises.

“No one doubts that an ordinary man can get on with this world: but we demand not strength enough to get on with it, but strength enough to get it on. Can he hate it enough to change it, and yet love it enough to think it worth changing?" -- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

day no. 15,152: the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets

Isaiah 58:10-12
If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

Proverbs 11:25
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered

The world is full of places scorched so severely it sometimes appears as though nothing good could ever grow there again. The bones of the world appear brittle and beyond any hope of building muscle and infrastructure around them. What we see are ruins of something once glorious, the wreckage of something meant for something more. We see breaches in the hull and we see that we're taking on water. We see streets filled with people empty of any substance. It seems dark and gloomy because it is. It is a darkness that can be felt. 

But into that situation, God promises to fill. He promises to satisfy the desires of those who pour themselves out and return to Him for fulfillment. He promises to end the affliction of those hungry and thirsty for righteousness. He vows to keep the meek from starving to death. The hunger and thirst He provokes in them, He will satisfy completely. The sun will rise and light will dominate and evaporate the mist of gloom. God will guide us in this and grant us fulfillment in barren lands. We will see seeds take root and produce 30, 60 and 100 fold where formerly there was only burnt earth. We will see bones and infrastructure solidified and eager to support the weight of the Kingdom of God. We will see deserts irrigated and springs of water overflowing to feed the fruitfulness of every endeavor. We will see the wreckage of Eden restored to its former glory. We will see the presence of God walking in our midst. We will not do this for our benefit only, but for the fruit of our marriages which will be blessed along with us and we will watch our children's children worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. What we are building will last and will be enjoyed for a 1,000 generations. Our efforts will not die with us, they will benefit our brothers and sisters forever. We will be rewarded with the title of "repairers." We will see the hull sealed up and the ship sailing freely without encumbrance. We will see the streets filled with people who are filled - people bubbling over with gratitude producing more people to share their effervescent joy. 

The world belongs to the Lord who has bestowed it to the meek as their inheritance in His will through the death of His Son. The Gospel will prevail. The story ends happily for those whose happiness is found in the delight of its Author.

day no. 15,151: flatter-proof

1 Corinthians 4:6-7
I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Christians should be flatter-proof. Flattery is nice words with wicked intentions. On the surface, it appears to be meant to make you feel good, but it only does so by stretching the truth or ignoring it altogether. In other words, it is founded on lies. And we don't help each other by lying to each other. We don't get people closer to God by speaking the devil's language. Christians should be fluent in Gospel, not in flattery. In fact, they shouldn't even enroll in flattery as a second language courses. You don't need to know how to speak flattery to recognize when someone else is speaking it. The accent gives it away.

Christians should have a proper sense of gratitude and humility which insulates them from flattery. They should know their strengths and from Whom they come. They should know their weaknesses and not be willing to overlook them. So when someone comes and tries to give us credit for something God did in us, we are not overwhelmed by their attempts to make us feel good. We know there is no one good but God and the good we have is His good gift to us. Conversely, when someone tries to make us feel less badly about something we did, we are not overwhelmed by their attempts to make us feel better about it. We know that sin is serious and failure is our contribution to our salvation. We don't need to cover our sins by making excuses because they are already covered by the blood of the Son of God in our place, for our sin. 

When you see yourself as God sees you, you are flatter-proof. No one can inflate your self worth beyond your humility and no one can depreciate your sense of sin beyond your understanding of your depravity. When you know you need and have a sinless Savior, you have no need for accentuating your goodness or mitigating your wickedness.

day no. 15,150: juniper elise, 1 year old extraordinaire!

Juniper Elise Van Voorst, you are one year old today!!!

We have yet to settle a consistent nickname for you. Juni is a fan favorite because it's merely an abbreviated version of your name. So it's a natural shoe in. But Callista's calling you "Pepper" in an attempt to say, "Juniper" is quite adorable. From there "Pep" or "Pepsi" become natural tertiary nicknames. Junicorn is said in jest every once in a blue moon. Junipeno is a play off of being a Juniper pepper. Nipsy refuses to become a thing. Sometimes, just Juniper does the trick. Your mom affectionately calls you, "Nugget" or "Box Baby" because you're such chunky monkey. 

Either way, wherever it ends up landing, you are our sweet little girl. I love your smile and your calm nature. You are chill. You are content being where you are and not raising a fuss unless you actually need something. When you do, you have this amazing toothy cry where you jut out your lower jaw and give birth to a raspy protest. Your voice is amazing. It is gravelly and deep and it fits you perfectly. Your hair is coming in and it's so much fun to see your face taking shape. Some children look like they're going to look from day one while others take shape over time. I feel like you are of the latter variety and that I'm only now beginning to see who you will look like.

You are adored by all of your siblings. They love picking you up and making you laugh and getting on the floor with you. They love making you smile, which is not difficult. You are a happy go lucky kind of lady, rolling with the punches of baby life. 

I am excited to get to know you, to hear your voice, to hear your thoughts, to teach you about our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, to introduce you to your siblings, to help you, counsel you, correct you, encourage you, etc... God made you specifically for us. He chose us for each other. I'm your dad and not by accident. I have loved you from the day I knew you were inside your mother's womb and I continue to love you now. You don't know me yet. You recognize me, but you don't know me. You don't know your God yet, but you recognize His provision. I am excited to introduce myself to you and to introduce you to your God. I love that God made you a Van Voorst. I love being your dad and can't wait for all the good times we will share by His grace and for our good.

I love you little lady. Always have, always will. No matter what. Forever and ever. 
Amen.

Love,
Daddy!

day no. 15,149: extracting a win from the situation you're in

"Therefore a skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates." - Sun Tzu

A weak, unskilled leader will demand victory from his subordinates before he will expect it from himself. He will see the team's failure as their failure and himself as the coach who tried his best, but what are you going to do, amiright? 

A strong, skilled leader seeks victory in whatever situation his team finds itself. He knows his team and he knows his times. He sees the lay of the land and he knows the strengths of his squad and employs them in proportion to the playing field they find themselves on. He sees it as his job to understand the land and out of it demand victory. He takes the responsibility of extracting a win from the situation he's in. He doesn't blame his tools if it doesn't come together. He expects them to do what they were designed and trained to do, but accepts the state of the project of his own.

day no. 15,148: combined arms

"The use of combined arms is a key means of gaining advantage. It is based on the idea of presenting the enemy not merely with a problem, but with a dilemma—a no-win situation. We combine supporting arms, organic fires, and maneuver in such a way that any action the enemy takes to avoid one threat makes him more vulnerable to another. For example, an entrenched enemy should discover that if he stays hunkered down in fighting holes, Marine artillery and air will blast him out. If he comes out to attack, Marine infantry will cut him down. If he tries to retreat, Marine armor and airpower will pursue him to his destruction. That is combined arms." -- MCDP 1-3: Tactics

When playing tic-tac-toe, the strategy is to force the hand of your opponent into two equally bad options.

If you are "X" you want to end up in these type of situations. 
If you are "O" you want to avoid ending up in these type of situations.

"O" has a choice to make in the above scenarios, but they are equally bad. You can only prevent "X" from defeating you one of two ways and to pick to defend that flank is to surrender the other.

This is the same strategy behind combined arms. If the enemy is only ever focused on shutting down one of your assaults, it opens them up to be defeated by another one of your assaults. 

On the other hand, beware that you don't fall prey to the same tactic. Our enemy knows how tic-tac-toe is supposed to go as well and is in no hurry to submit to your strategy passively and is furthermore actively attempting to place you into the compromised position leaving you with only the choice of how to surrender.

day no. 15,147: for the right hand and for the left

"In war the power to use two fists is an inestimable asset. To feint with one fist and strike with the other yields an advantage, but a still greater advantage lies in being able to interchange them—to convert the feint into the real blow if the opponent uncovers himself " —B. H. Liddell Hart

2 Corinthians 6:7
The weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left

bada bing, bada boom!

Righteousness is not a one handed operation. You do not have the time or luxury of pursuing alternate endeavors with one of your two hands. If righteousness is your aim, your hands must work together. It is not an end achieved by half-hearted attention.

"There is still a tendency in each separate unit . . . to be a one-handed puncher. By that I mean that the rifleman wants to shoot, the tanker to charge, the artilleryman to fire. . . . That is not the way to win battles. If the band played a piece first with the piccolo, then with the brass horn, then with the clarinet, and then with the trumpet, there would be a hell of a lot of noise but no music. To get harmony in music each instrument must support the others. To get harmony in battle, each weapon must support the other. Team play wins." - General Patton, 1941

Every area of our lives need to be equipped to fight the good fight. There is no unimportant aspect of our existence. There is nothing so insignificant as to be ignored. Each aspect of our existence must work together in harmony in order to achieve victory. 

Psalm 149:6

Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands

The chief end of every thing is to be under the headship of Christ. And this does not come naturally or without a fight.