What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?
It is common sense that one should never go to dangerous places. But an adventurer would go anywhere to explore – even to the tiger’s lair to see her cubs. A famous Chinese proverb – “How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger’s lair?” – proclaims a belief that outweighs common sense.
When we were children, we were often taught not to go to places where criminals dwelt or crimes were prevalent. Today, crime blackspots are found in every city, and in some cities they are literally everywhere. Crime rates, which are effective indicators for assessing a city’s or country’s prosperity and stability, can affect tourism – and thus the economy – to a great extent. No one wants to be a crime victim, especially those who are away from their hometown or country.
You do not have to be an adventurer to visit a dangerous or disturbed area. Crime fighting is primarily the police’s job, and saving those who suffer is the social workers’ job. It is their duty to do so. However, police can reduce crime rates but not uproot crime; social workers can provide relief for the suffering but not always save their lives.
I cannot stop pondering where crime comes from, and why people suffer all kinds of pain that torture life. The Bible declares that curses come from the work of sin (Romans 6:23). The Bible also says that blessed are those who delight in the law of the Lord, and who meditate on His law day and night – whatever they do prospers (Psalm 1:2-3). Sin, and thus crime, starts with Adam’s rebellion against God’s command (Genesis 2:17 & 3:6; Romans 5:12).
Common sense tells us not to go to dangerous places. Whether we go or not is a matter of choice. But not everyone has this choice – the poor who grow up in slums are trapped in crime zones for life; people who live in war zones have not chosen that life either. In the world, whose choices are the ones that influence or determine the lives of others, physically, but more importantly, spiritually?
While I can choose, I choose to avoid going to places which are physically dangerous, and I avoid walking into the spiritual darkness of the wicked, standing in the way of sinners, or sitting in the company of mockers, for they are like chaff that the wind blows away (Psalm 1:1, 4, 5). And I choose to continue to travel via the internet to places where the gospel is needed (John 3:16).
The decision not to travel to physically dangerous places is easy, but the decision to walk away from spiritually dangerous areas is not. That remains true even though the world has been told that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
While material gains may be obtained from venturing into dangerous places, the wisdom to survive steadfastly in the wilderness is found in true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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“The Pain of Pain” ~ ✨
Those who have known pain recognise the pain of others.
The poor who have risen to wealth feel others’ poverty.
Those who have come back from death despise self‑sought suffering.
Whoever drinks the bitter cup brings the cup of blessing to others.
If you know who that is – for the knower, pain is pain no more.
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Psalms 1:6
“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”
✨✨💖 ~
en yan hua fang 