November 20. Handwriting On Your Wall Or Heart?

The handwriting is on the wall is an expression that has been used throughout the ages to signify an impending doom. Does that bring up a negative feeling to you? It seems that I have heard that used when someone's attitude was that something or some event was about to end.

But the fact is, we can choose what is written on the wall. As a leader our attitude about what we write on the wall for others to see, hear and experience matters. Do you write down your goals and aspirations and share them with your team?

The best teams that I know of have goals for the week, the quarter and at least the calendar year. Once written down, we need to have them measured. The purpose of having them communicated is so that others can help us to evaluate how we are doing.

We then can decide to adopt new behaviors and actions to adjust for the success we want. Who on your team is missing out and how robust are your processes? I think we have kept a secret if they do not know or are not engaged with an appropriate attitude.

If the team believes that the negative and impending doom is coming it is up to the leader to address it. It might be time to get out the no doom broom and sweep out those negative attitudes. What is it that you choose to write on your wall today that might attract others to your team?

What is the first thing that you can do about it in the next seven days?

As a Christian, I think that Jesus can write on our hearts. But he writes on the inside wall not the outside of it. We read, ““This is the message that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.” Daniel 5:25 NLT. Daniel was called upon to tell the king what the mysterious hand wrote on the King’s wall.

The answer was these words, "numbered, weighed, divided." God was not happy with the actions and attitudes of King Belteshazzar. He was being held accountable for his arrogance against God. But we have received Jesus and the grace of God through

him.

That means that we can use these words to draw nearer to Christ. What are you doing to set goals in your faith journey? There is no more important place to set goals than in our faith. But following up with a habit of weighing your activity against your goal will probably take a new habit as well.

Both making and weighing combined may be what is needed for us to make changes in our behaviors that honor Christ. But starting with writing them down may just give us another opportunity to let Jesus write them in our hearts. I like the idea of letting Christ write his goal for our journey together in my heart.

It might start by you writing some down on paper. That is the challenge for today. Are you willing to spend some mental time and adjust your attitude with regards to goal setting? We do not set goals to earn God’s grace. That has already been done.

We set goals so that we might experience the love of Jesus in a more robust and meaningful way. What is the first thing you can do about it in the next seven days?

Let us pray, Lord Jesus, thank you for taking us on a journey. We ask you to write in our hearts. Let us know where you might see that we can make a turn together. We want to weigh our own actions and draw nearer to you by following your example of love.

But that requires change, changes that are not always easy. Write on our walls so that we might know your love so confidently that our new behaviors honor you. So let it be written, so let it be done. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,