The other day I saw something that shouldn’t have been happening.

It could happen, but often it’s an optical illusion … like when you put a fork in a glass of water and it looks like it is bending. 

Years ago I went on a bike hike with a buddy. We were going camping, and our road trip was to take us about five hours, which we stretched into about eight.

Along the way we had some long, uphill climbs to make, but one part of the road looked straight and flat.  

As we started on this long, straight stretch of road, I noticed it was getting easier to pedal. I started to move up the gears and with each gear it got easier to pedal. 

It was a straight road and I was in shock at how we were clipping along. I stopped pedalling because it was a waste of time; we were flying but the road looked flat. 

Obviously, it was an optical illusion … something like the Magnetic Hill and the Reversing Falls in New Brunswick.

I had been to both those places when I was about 7 years old. Both of them are nothing more than optical illusions. They look like something is defying gravity, but in reality it’s not. 

What I experienced the other day was not an optical illusion. 

My wife, Lily, and I were driving through Toronto on the 401. It was late in the afternoon on a Sunday, with many people on the road returning from their cottages at the end of the weekend.

Lil was looking at a driving app that gives you tips on the best route to take.  

And though we were going straight through Toronto, the app said that we should get into the collector lanes at a particular point because they were moving slightly faster.

We were not going too fast in the express lanes so we moved over and noticed that we were actually moving a little faster. 

But that was very short lived. Shortly after we got into the collectors, we were reduced from four lanes down to three because of construction. 

This was followed by another lane reduction a few kilometres later. At this point you could tell we were moving slower than the express lanes that had no reductions.

I was starting to question the app for getting us into the mess we were in, because you know that every time there is a lane reduction, the cars in that lane have to merge into your lane.  

And then after a few more kilometres we got another lane reduction. If you’re counting, we went from four lanes of traffic down to one lane.

And of course, we slowed down during the reduction. 

But then the most amazing thing happened. With high cement barriers on both sides of our lane, we started to pick up speed. We started going faster and faster, and when I looked over to the express lanes, the traffic in all four of those lanes was going slower. 

We were whipping past them at a fast clip. It was no optical illusion. 

With how slow the trip had been up to that point, it was almost a miracle. 

Here’s the thing: Your life can look like it’s going well. From your vantage point and everyone else’s, your life is moving along nicely. But it’s your inner spiritual life that is the unseen determining force of your future. Don’t get lulled by what is visual. Pay attention and get your spiritual life right with God. Your physical life will not defy your spiritual life. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What part of your life looks better on the outside than it is on the inside? Leave your comments below.