Mirage

Most of us who have been blessed with eyesight have seen a mirage.  Usually, we think of a mirage in terms of what appears to be water where there isn’t any.  On rare occasions, a mirage may reflect things in the distance; like a city or an island.  However, not every mirage is entirely an optical illusion.

Sometimes we see a mirage as wavy air that kind of shimmers at a distance ahead of us.  It looks like it is moving up and down, or in the direction of the wind, and it distorts what we see like the “magic” mirror in the fun house at an amusement park.

A mirage occurs when the ground gets hotter than the air above it.  The heated air next to the ground rises, and cooler air moves down to replace it.  It can distort our vision, and make things look like they are in a spot where they are not.  Activities like driving a car, steering a boat, or shooting a rifle may become more difficult.  Things may appear to be closer or farther than they really are.  We may think that the position of an object is to the left or right of where it actually is.  It can cause a person to misidentify things.

The effect of a mirage can be likened to the refraction of light that occurs in water.  When a child drops a coin in a wading pool, and he reaches down to retrieve it, he will need to adjust his reach to pick it up because it will not be where it looks to be.  If the child puts his head under the water, the coin will be where he sees it.


See: (Complete Book of Shooting, p.53, Jack O’Connor. Outdoor Life Books. Times Mirror Magazines, Inc. 1982)

I have heard it said that “sin” is an archery term that means “to miss the mark.”  I am not an archer, but it is a useful way of looking at it.  The Bible says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. (Rom. 3:21-24) We have all missed the mark.  I, for one, have certainly done wrong, even when I knew it was wrong, and I took pleasure in it.  I have deliberately and willfully disobeyed God.

Sometimes we do wrong when we are ignorant of the fact that what we are doing is wrong.  We sin out of ignorance because we don’t know the truth.  That is why it is good to read the Bible daily, attend church, and pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance.  It helps us to know right from wrong. (2Tim. 2:15)

In my walk with the Lord, I have often missed the mark when I was trying to do the right thing.  I knew what the target was, but I missed it because I was relying on in my own strength and wisdom; rather  than on God's power.  Most times my vision was obscured, as if by a mirage.  I was trying to reach a good goal, but I didn’t see the way clearly.  It was closer, further away, to the left, or to the right.  I misidentified the target.  Sometimes I did good anyway, but I often caused more harm than good, as well.

Praise God that I have a loving Savior who picks me up, dusts me off, and puts me back on track.  In this life we seldom see clearly.  That is why we need to stay humble and be willing to alter our direction when, as we go along, the mirage goes away.  One day those who believe will see Jesus face to face, and then He will make all things clear to us. (1Cor. 13:12) Until then, the best any of us can do is to try to learn from our mistakes, yield to the Holy Spirit, and follow where we are led; trusting that the Spirit will show us the things that God has prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:8-10, 1Cor. 2:9-16)