What is a mirage?

A) A hotel in Las Vegas

B) A phenomenon caused be the refraction of light rays.

C) Something that is unreal, but our minds take as real.

D) All of the above.

You have probably seen a mirage even if you have not found yourself walking across the desert, facing desperate conditions and dehydration. While driving down highways on a hot summer day, you may have seen what looks like water covering the road ahead of you. That water seems to disappear as you come upon it and then new water seems to appear again further down the road. The water appears and disappears until the mirages disappear in the cool of the evening.

A mirage is an optical illusion caused by the refraction of light. Light rays, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, when traveling together in the same medium, are in sync. However, when the rays go from one medium to another, they are out of sync with each other. You have probably seen the principle of refraction when viewing a pencil which is sticking partly in and partly out of a glass of water. The pencil has the appearance of being bent because it is partly immersed in air and partly immersed in water The bottom half of the pencil submerged in the water appears to bend because light moves at a different rate as it passes through two different mediums, which in this case is air and water. Water is more dense than air. The light rays that pass through the air traveling at different rate than those passing through the water are out of sync with each other. Thereby, our sense are fooled and the pencil appears to be bent.

Likewise, light is being bent as it travels through the rising air coming off of a heated road. Air is a poor conductor and therefore the air just above the highway surface is cooler. The air, coming up off of a black highway surface, is at a higher temperature and therefore of a lesser density than the cooler air just above the road's surface. When sunlight passes through these two layers of air, the light rays are refracted, or bent. Therefore, we see a mirage of what looks like road water. The water can even appear to shimmer or float because of rising and falling layers of air. Desperate wanderers traveling across the floor of a heated desert are likewise fooled into seeing lakes and pools of water. However, when a weary desert traveler begins seeing palm trees, green grass, and a Kool Aid stand, we are no longer talking about a mirage, but rather a delusion or a hallucination.

The term, "mirage" has come to have the metaphorical meaning of anything that appears to be real but is not. One would think that a gambling casino would not be called "The Mirage" for that name genuinely and vividly reflects the truth about gambling. How ironic that those who frequent such gambling operations, as the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, are equally fooled by appearance. However, maybe we are now talking about delusions and not mirages.

Just as light rays can be bent to give us a false view of physical reality, our thoughts can be bent so that we have a false view of life and living. Not only can our sense of sight be fooled, causing us to see what is not there, our perceptions of the real world can be twisted and we can be fooled to believe what is not true. Here are a couple examples of "life's mirages."

Life's Mirage #1 "This world can satisfy the needs of the human heart ." If things can satisfy, then the most satisfied people in the world ought to be Americans and the happiest people must be the very richest! Jesus Himself asked in Matt 16:26, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" The greatest riches are possessed by those who know where they will spend eternity! Where do people go in times of great trial and affliction? Not to their bank book to find comfort! It is the spiritual truths as revealed by God that satisfy and calm our hearts!.

Life's Mirage #2 "All that is real can be seen and touched." To live a secular life is to live as if there is no reality beyond this material world. There is a world that stands above this world material world, a spiritual world that includes the Godhead, a myriad of angelic host, and demons. There is a real heaven and a real hell. Walking by faith requires seeking what cannot be seen with the human eyes or touched with the hand.

Life's Mirage #3 " There are many different ways to God." Jesus stated, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me." Those who propound the "mirage" that there are many way to the Father will have to argue with Jesus for He came into the world because there He is the only way to the Father. Else He would have stayed in heaven and let men walk the many supposed other paths to heaven.

Life's Mirage #4 "Men only need to be sincere in what they believe." Sincerity cannot be the test of truth or right. Men can be sincerely wrong and in fact, many people have been sincere and adamant in their wicked and erroneous causes. Jesus stated that it was the truth that would set people free, not sincerity!

The Bible is designed by God to point out the mirages of life. God knows that men can live for what is not real, but is a lie. We can be fooled by the illusions of life! God has revealed Himself and the meaning of life so that we can walk in light of truth. Take time this week to open up God's Word and uncover other mirages and even delusions of life.