A Pile of Rubble

With folks missing at work, and one very important night shift gentleman going on vacation next week, I began last week to feel somewhat like the Israelites did when they were in the process of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 4:6 says "So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart." But the time came when opposition, through agitators, ridicule, criticism, and outright hostility came into play in the form of a group of renegades who did not follow God's way, and the Israelites began to be worn down. Fear came into play, the magnitude of the job seemed greater than they could bear, and their enthusiasm began to wane. It all looked like "heaps of rubble", and they became discouraged. Their work suffered, and they were compelled to take inventory of what they had available to them, and this drove them to turn to God.
Though I had no hostility displayed toward me, and my fellow workers have been more than kind to me, there was something inside me that was eating away at my "heart". I was beginning to be disheartened because of the "pile of rubble" (backstock) that was building up. I had to take inventory and I realized that I had more on my side than I had thought. God was answering my daily prayer that I might "honor and glorify" him in all that I do. My surroundings hadn't changed (I was still working in a cooler at an average temp of 43 degrees), my fellow workers had not changed (they were still cordial, helpful, and cooperative), the work load hadn't changed (I was still moving about two tons of milk, cheese, yogurt and juices a day--a veritable 'heap of rubble'), but my attitude had changed (I was once again 'shining forth Jesus Christ') and that made the difference.