For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Closely tied to the question we’ve been looking at related to our identity in Jesus and our practice of kindness (Who am I? Does God Love me?) is another question that makes up our identity: ‘Why am I here?’ For Christians, this comes down to God’s call on our lives. This is where His plan comes in.

It’s not uncommon for Christians at times to be obsessed with God’s plan for their lives. This is especially true when they haven’t established who they are in Jesus, or internalized the fact that God loves them immeasurably more than they can comprehend. (See parts 1, 2, & 3 of this series).

So if Christians try to determine, establish, and walk in God’s personal plan for them—without the foundation of identity and the love of God—they are more likely to fear His plan or their inability to attain it…than a faith-building confidence they find comfort in. It becomes a frustration, like finding a needle in a haystack.

And it’s come to a place where saying “God has a wonderful plan for my life,” becomes a Christian cliché rather than a truth we live from. When I meet other Christians they want my resume (they ask the questions—what positions do you hold? what roles do you play?). They are trying to discover my identity but they’re looking in the wrong place.

There are scads of studies on how to find God’s plan for your life; 3 steps, 5 steps, 7 steps…to finding God’s will. Google it, if this is something that’s festering in your life. What I want to focus on, instead, is found in today’s verse. From today’s verse we can believe three things:

1. God has a unique plan for each of our lives.
2. God’s plans are always good (not harmful to us). They are always designed to bring us good (hope and a future).
3. God’s plans are built on a foundation of accepting His love and trusting in Him.

So how does this play into kindness? Just this: When we know we are on course with God’s plan we have confidence to step out, to reach out, to touch the lives of others according to the plan God has for us. If we don’t know or have confidence in the plan God has for us, we will probably be too absorbed in our own lack of direction to be engaging in kind acts toward others.

Add to that the fact that it’s a lot easier to touch the lives of others when our own reservoir of love and trust is filled up, and you see the need to know and have confidence in God’s plan. Even if our knowledge is only short-term, at the moment, we know and rely on the promise of God that the longer-range plan will become clearer as we continue in the short-term plan we already know.