In looking for references to God as El Olam in scripture it led me to one of my favorite Old Testament passages.
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31
Another meaning for Olam is time. So when you hear this name of God it teaches us that God created time, yet God exists outside of and beyond time. God was here before time began, He always has been, He always is, and He always will be. What an awesome thought that the same God who parted the red sea for the Israelites to walk across, the one who brought fire down from heaven to ignite a very wet sacrifice for Elijah on Mount Carmel and the same God who sent His son to be born of a virgin and to die on a cross for our sins is the same God we worship today. He may not do miraculous signs and wonders the same WAY that he used to do them, but He could if He wanted to. And don’t you mistake that if you look for Him, he does and He will work on your behalf.
When this writer wrote this, He was recognizing God as Creator, He is the Everlasting God to the ends of the earth and He is always there. He doesn’t faint or grow weary. Take comfort in that. No matter how much we think He may be tiring of us bringing the same old same old to Him, He isn’t. He knows, He understands.
And because of His understanding, He gives us the strength even when our stuff is exhausting us, He will give the strength to go on and to face the day, each day.
The last verse of this passage has always been a favorite. Although to me it may have seemed a little backward.
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
I would think you would walk, then run, then fly. But my favorite commentator put it this way:
“First, we recognize that we soar up into heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Then we set ourselves on the course to run the race. Then we are in the good place to walk the walk.” ~ David Guzik (Blue Letter Bible)
When the race gets hard and the way is exhausting, we have no other choice but to get with God and soar into heavenly places with Him and let Him set our feet on a path so we can walk this thing out. After all, He is everlasting and eternal and He created time, yet it doesn’t exist in Him. Because He created time and can see into time, He knows when and where the end of your struggle will come so it only makes sense to let Him help you walk it out!
Restore 