In our previous meditation, we learned that a necessary condition to accomplishing anything in life is to start. It is often said that the hardest part is the beginning. Yet without it, there can be no improvement. You can never improve on what you never started. Let’s now turn our attention to why people find it hard to start. Fear is top on the list. Many people are just afraid. It may be the fear of personal inadequacies. That may be coupled with the fear of insufficient resources. Then there is what is often called the paralysis of analysis, brought about by incessant gathering of information and endless deductions before making a decision. Finally, there is the fear of failure, the consideration that our efforts may not yield the desired results. Going by all these, it makes sense when the Scripture says fear has torment.

“Perhaps more profoundly, fear can damage our walk with God. Fear can make us less responsive to the instructions of God…Fear is one clear reason why many people do not make God their number one priority when it comes to giving. “

Perhaps more profoundly, fear can damage our walk with God. Fear can make us less responsive to the instructions of God. This can be demonstrated from our text. Elijah had gone to the widow in Zarepath on the instructions of the Lord. God had commanded a widow to feed him. So the woman must have heard the Lord before the prophet arrived. When Elijah asked for bread, she hesitated until he charged her to “fear not”. So fear was the woman’s problem, not that she had not heard the Lord. Fear is one clear reason why many people do not make God their number one priority when it comes to giving. The woman was subjected to that all-time gospel truth. Save your life, and lose it; lose your life, and gain it. With the prodding of Elijah, she chose the latter and was happier for it.