
ותיראן המילדת את האלקים ולא עשו כאשר דבר אליהן מלך מצרים ותחיין את הילדים ... (א-יז)
The posuk praises the Yiras Shamayim of the Jewish midwives rather than their desire to do chesed. Yocheved and Miriam, otherwise known as Shifra and Puah, risked their lives to keep the Jewish babies alive in Mitzrayim. They did chessed all day long, rescuing as many tiny humans as they could, and yet the Torah doesn’t say a word about their chessed or about their mesiras nefesh. The Torah writes, “Vatirena Hameyaldos es HaElokim” - the midwives feared Hashem. The Chofetz Chaim zt”l remarks that chesed alone could never have brought them this far. Kindness might have caused them to resign from their jobs, but their intention was to keep their posts so that no one else would do the heinous job of killing Jewish babies. It was specifically their fear - יראת שמים - that spurred them on to perform the will of Hashem.
When a person finds himself in the midst of a nisayon (a test of character), it is the Fear of Heaven translated into the desire to do the רצון ה', that will allow him to pass the test. The next time you find yourself in a precarious situation, just ask yourself: “What does Hashem want me to do now?” If one follows his heart and his mind, he will undoubtedly pass the test. As we say in Tehillim: "יראת ה' טהורה עומדת לעד" - A pure Yiras Hashem - "עומדת לעד" - will stand by him forever! How different is the Fear of G-d of a gentile, who is so afraid to get caught that he’ll try to “outsmart” G-d!
The Nesivos Sholom zt”l explains that יראת ה' is the true avodah of a Jew, like the posuk says: "מה ה' אלקיך שואל מעמך? כי אם ליראת את ה'" - “What does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you? Only that you fear Hashem.” The word for "יראה" - “Fear,” is the same word that means “to see.” Because true Yiras Hashem is seeing the Almighty in every situation! Bringing Hashem into every aspect of our lives! The more one notices Hashem, appreciates Hashem and connects to Him, the more he will emulate His ways, thereby performing the רצון ה'. This is true Yiras Hashem in practice!