I Have To Obey

I have so much in my heart right now it feels like it just might explode! I am literally shaking as I try to put all my thoughts and feelings into words that make some sense.
I am embarking on an opportunity to travel to South Africa in a few months to work with an organization, Acres of Love, that rescues and cares for orphans whose parents have died from AIDS. Becoming involved with Acres of Love has changed the very course of my life, welcoming me into a place and a role where I truly feel like my purpose in life is being defined and perfected. When I am doing the work of helping this organization to help those suffering children I feel more alive than I've ever felt.
My whole life I have been dealing with a fire inside of me, a passion, a deep yearning, a longing to fulfill the desire of my heart that wants to make a lasting difference in this hurting world. I have tried repeatedly to find the right place and organization and cause to really dig in and do this, but those efforts have never been truly soul satisfying or fruitful. But now that I have found and worked with Acres of Love, my soul is singing and I know, that I know, that I know that this is where I am supposed to be.
Since I became a Christian a couple years ago, I have prayed and prayed for God to transform me and to use my life, my hands and feet, my resources, my talents and gifts and to make it clear to me what He wants me to do to help Him in redeeming this hurting world.
Well, that transformation that I pray and pray for is taking place in my heart and my family and my whole life everyday. Since getting to know Jesus, studying the Bible daily, committing my life to be His follower, making my relationship with him a priority and learning to submit to His will in my life, He has been faithful in doing the work inside of me and I am becoming transformed at light speed. The changes that have taken place in me and in my life are not because of anything that I did, rather they are because of the work that God has been faithful to do. Like author Tom Davis said, "Transformation DID occur when I would hear the words of Jesus and obeyed them. The more I obeyed, the more I was transformed."
James 1:27 says that "Pure religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." I am certain that God is calling me, loud and clear, to work with Acres of Love, to be an ambassador for these innocent and victimized children and to truly live out the words of James in this verse. I am certain of it. And I am confident that making the trip to South Africa is part of His plan for me. I believe that my effectiveness as a leader for this organization will come from my direct experience of meeting these children, seeing the country they come from, holding them, playing with them, getting to know them and seeing with my own eyes the difference that I can make by reaching out to them and sharing God's love with them. I want to be right in the middle of the place that God wants me. I want to fulfill His great plans for my life. I want to do what my Father wants from me. I want to be obedient to His call and then trust that He will bless my efforts for my faithfulness. I believe that if I am about God's business that He will protect me, bless me, and take care of every last detail with this journey. I know that if I pass up this opportunity because I am fearful or nervous or because I am trying to please other people, that I will be saying "NO!" to God who is asking for my trust and faith and obedience. God created me, He loves and adores me, He knows and wants what is best for me and He is calling me to be his hands and feet and arms in South Africa to those children and I have to go!
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11-13