She said, "As certainly as the LORD your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I'm going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.”

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son.”

I Kings 17:12-13 NET

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At this point, the widow speaks her first recorded words to Elijah. In that moment, she unloaded the heavy emotional baggage she had been shouldering forever onto this stranger that now stood before her. She spoke the deepest darkest fears of her soul. Perhaps it felt good, even therapeutic, to finally let it all out. She wasn’t looking for a solution. She didn’t believe there was one. She just wanted someone to listen. She had done all the calculations, explored all the possibilities, worked out all the scenarios, and reached her dreadful conclusion. She and her son were facing a dilemma, not of her own making, that offered no possibility for hope.

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Notice she begins by pointing to “the Lord your God….” There was anger and frustration in this response. She was letting Elijah know in no uncertain terms that “The Lord YOUR God, whom YOU serve, whom YOU have placed your faith in, whom YOU believe can do all things – this Lord YOUR God is allowing this to happen to me. YOUR God doesn’t seem to care. And now you have the gall to ask for something that is impossible?”

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After this tirade, Elijah doesn’t focus on her circumstances. He doesn’t tell her to “look on the bright side” or “put things in their proper perspective” or “you’re not the only one that’s suffering” or “I’ll pray for you” or “bless your heart.” Elijah doesn’t belittle her emotions or berate her for her lack of faith in that moment. Instead, he validates, commisserates and shows her he understands by pointing to the root of her emotions: her fear.

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Fear is natural. Fear causes us to look at the problems while ignoring the possibilities. Fear causes us to sorrow as if there is no solution. Fear is paralyzing. Fear mires us in indecision. Fear magnifies every question while obscuring the answers. Fear makes every hurdle appear insurmountable. Fear robs us of our joy and peace. That is because fear is not of God.

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In his next words, Elijah point to the way to overcome fear: “Go and Do.”

 

The only way to overcome fear is to go against our natural inclinations. Fear makes us want to stand still. Instead, we must go forward in faith. We go forward by doing first things first. The first thing the widow needed to do would be the most difficult thing she had ever done. It would be something she had never imagined herself doing. It would be something she would never choose to do. But she knew it could be done. She could go in faith and do what God had commanded her. How different her story would have been had she chosen to do otherwise! How different would our own lives be if we, too, chose in faithful obedience, like this poor widow, to simply “Go and Do”?