Be srue to raed tihs!

Resraechres at Cmabirgde Uinvrestiy fnuod taht the odrer ltteers are wtitren in deson't mttaer as lnog as the frist and lsat ltteres are in the rghit palce. Yul'ol be albe to raed the wrods croerctly no mtater how jubmled the ltetres are. It semes taht yuor barin dosne't raed ecah lteter but sees the wohle wrod at ocne.

This little gem of information comes from the well-known "Ripley's Believe it or Not Souvenir Guidebook", and many will have read it before. By the way, in case anyone didn't quite get it, it makes the point that as long as the first and last letters of a word are in their correct places, our brains can make sense of what comes between them, however mixed-up those other letters are.

In the great book of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, given to His servant, John there is a fourfold reference to Almighty God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - as "the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (22:13 - cf. 1:8, 11; 21:6). Disciples of Jesus may take great comfort (the word really means 'strength') that we follow a Saviour Who is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, and Who makes sense of all that comes between - all the mixed-up, confusing, seemingly illogical, circumstances of this earthly life.

The old illustration was of a tapestry which, when looked at from the wrong side (the back), is a confused jumble of ends of threads, of every colour and hue, that makes absolutely no sense; but that, when viewed from the correct side (the front) is a beautiful picture that brings joy and delight to the beholder. In this life, we see only the back of the tapestry. Only in Glory will the believer see the finished picture - and rejoice that our great God really did know what He was doing, even if His plan wasn't always clear to us!