Peace. Available?

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27 KJV)

That small pink card has lived with me for over ten years. It was in a journal brought by a lady I didn’t know and seldom see. The journals were exchanged at a Ladies Retreat in east Texas. Attendees brought a journal with one entry – an introduction to their soon-to-be-new-owner. I keep the card on the mirror in my bathroom to remind me each morning that our Lord provides peace.
In preceding verses, our Lord introduces the Comforter to His disciples:

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (John 14:16-18 KJV)

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26 KJV)

It is the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, that gives us peace:

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:3-6 KJV)

A peace that is beyond understanding:

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 KJV)

Always look at the surrounding verses to see how to achieve what a singled out verse offers:

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:4-6 KJV)

Right in the middle of that is why I can feel peaceful – the Lord is at hand. Paul lived with that knowledge and taught it across years of travel, knowing that wherever he went it was God’s will and He was at hand. Paul knew that same peace was available to all:

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:9 KJV)