Peace from within

 

I while ago I read the passage below. I loved the difference it shows between being empty inside and seeking rest through other things or being filled with a peace that comes from within.

"The next day I went to the ocean where I often had my quiet time. Since I had been a young girl, this had been my favorite spot. I climbed down part of a cliff, over a sixty-foot drop, to a little alcove that had been carved out of the side of the mountain by the winds. As far as I knew, no one else in the world knew about this spot, so it was mine alone. It was a haven, protecting me from the winds of life. I would spend hours there watching the waves crash in, one after another. That day I wrote in my journal:

I used to come here as a child to escape the tensions at home. Feeling completely empty inside, I would sit and let all the peace I felt from the warm sun and ocean mist engulf every part of me. It was the only peace I knew. Now I sit here at age nineteen, loving the warmth of the sun and the mist from the ocean, but today I can say with thanksgiving, my peace comes from within. I am everything but empty. I am full to the brim and overflowing.

God has given me hope when I used to despair. God has filled my heart with love when I used to hate. God has filled my heart with forgiveness when I used to be bitter. God has filled my heart with purpose when I had no direction. God has filled my heart with compassion when I never used to care. God has filled my heart with giving when I used to have nothing to give. God has opened my eyes spiritually when I used to be blind."
-Totally surrounded by Christina Di Stefano Davis-

Link to song Matthew West "the healing has begun"