Snow today. That's the forecast from Environment Canada: rain turning to 5-10 cm of wet snow later on, (so what else is new, eh?).

So my favorite Chapter in the Bible these days is Isaiah 40. I'm not trying to be original in my preferences--just get help. (Have I mentioned before how Luther described his pattern for theological studies? "I followed my temptations.")

Over the weekend we were watching the Hollywood version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and in it the characters spoke of the "deep magic" governing the rules of Narnia. Isaiah 40, you might say, taps into the "deep magic," the ground rules, the laws, governing existence on our planet. Talks, basically, about the nature of our Aslan, i.e., God.

So what do we learn? God's in charge: He made it all, controls it all. Whole nations don't count for much in the big picture when you consider that.

Second, God's good. He picks up the weak ones and carries them like a shepherd tends lambs in his flock.

Third, God's all wise. He knows what He's doing. You can't tell Him something He doesn't know. Everything's going to turn out perfect, is turning out perfect.

The end of the chapter, the most famous part, sums it up beautifully:

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

This kind of material, I've been recognizing, is dynamite. Verse 27 described my low-ebb feelings to a "T." ("Do you see what's goin' on here, God? Can this be right???")

The answer, in vs. 28, is, "Hey!!!!! Look up. Check it out! I'm God! Are you nuts???" (Ted's Contemporary Version).

It's essentially the same answer Job gets (at the end of the book of Job) when God just says, "Helloooooooooo. Have you noticed Who you're talking to, Big Mouth? And, by implication, could it possibly be that I, the one who made all that you see, also has your eensy teensy, itty bitty problems under control, as in, 'I saw them coming, I was there in the middle of them, and I'm taking you through to something really really good because they happened???'"