If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait to shed blood; let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the Pit; we shall find all kinds of precious possessions, we shall fill our houses with spoil; cast in your lot among us, let us all have one purse"- My son, do not walk in the way with them, keep your foot from their path; for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. Surely, in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird; but they lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its owners.  - Proverbs 1:10-19.

In San Antonio, Texas, Frank Spencer robbed a branch of Guaranty Bank, and got away with $5,000. Making his getaway, he tried to hail a taxi, but apparently remembered he had not yet had lunch. So, Frank stopped in at the B & B Smokehouse close by, and ordered the lunch special. He was enjoying his lunch when the police officers arrived to arrest him.

A man in a city near where I live, murdered his wife; buried the body, and threw away her purse in a creek where he thought no one would ever notice. There was one flaw in the plan - the "God factor." A man stopped at the creek to have his lunch, and spend some time with God. While there he noticed the papers, and other things; gathered them up, and took them to the sheriff’s office. The police department in the murderer’s city contacted him trying to locate the owner of the material that had been found. It seems the owner, the man’s wife, was missing as of the day before. During interrogation, the man confessed, and led the authorities to his wife’s body.

Most criminals, and even law enforcement, do not include the "God Factor" in their calculations. The fact is that no matter what we do, or how secretly we try to do it, there is a witness. In 2 Chronicles 16:9 the Bible says, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." There are television shows, and Internet webpages, devoted to the exploits of stupid criminals. The truth is that many of those criminals were not so stupid, they just encountered the "God Factor."

How about you? Have you encountered the "God Factor?"