When little is a lot

Nehemiah 3:33 Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their houses; and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the song of Ananiah, made repairs beside this house.

The task of repairing the entire wall around Jerusalem was without a doubt a huge job for these few exiles who returned from Babylon to repair the city.  Where do you start when everything needs cleaning up and repair?  I know how I feel when I face a big clean-up at home, so I can only imagine how big and how discouraging this could have been for these Israelites.  How to do it?  Take a small “bite” and start working!  This chapter tells just that … each family repaired the small portion of the wall that was in front of their own house.  When put all together, each little portion turned into a big job completed.  I cannot be deterred from doing a little bit at a time.  It will grow big.  And I love the statement in chapter 4 that says the leaders stood behind the people, guarding them while they worked on the wall.  That support was, I am quite certain, very energizing to those who were trying to work and guard their work at the same time... energizing and encouraging.  I see this as a picture of what our church leaders/pastors do for us.  They are watching out for us as we try to build in our lives.