One of the most comforting truths for the Christian is the ever-present reality that God is with us. God’s presence is one of the greatest gifts God gives his people. God is personally near.
No doubt, this is not always felt, even if it is known. However, even when not felt, for those that trust Jesus, it is absolutely true.
I was moved recently in reading Besty Ritchie’s account of watching John Wesley’s final days and hours. She states,
“…some of those who were most used to hear our dear Father’s dying voice would be able to interpret his meaning; but though he strove to speak we were still unsuccessful: finding we could not understand what he said, he paused a little, and then with all the remaining strength he had, cried out, ‘The best of all is, God is with us”; and then, as if to assert the faithfulness of our promise-keeping Jehovah and comfort the hearts of his weeping friends, lifting up his dying arm in token of victory and raising his feeble voice with a holy triumph not to be xpressed, again repeated the heart-reviving words, “The best of all is, God is with us!” The Journal of John Wesley, ed., Percy Livingstone Parker, (Chicago, IL: Moody Press), 419
The best of all, indeed, is that God is with us. What will your final words be? These were John Wesley’s. The reality of God’s presence was what he held onto in his final moments.
Maybe this is too far away from you. What about now? What is your best of all? What are you holding onto to get you through today? I commend to you Wesley’s words that God-with-us is the best news of everyday not just one’s final day, and that in Jesus God has come to us to live with us and in us.
God is best, and he has promised to be with you even in the worst moments of life. God’s presence is not the guarantee that worse will not come, but that God’s best for you will never leave–namely, himself.
GOD is with you. No matter what.
5:21 
Amen. Hit that nail on the head BJ (& John Wesley). I kept trying to tell people about how awesome it was to go through that meningitis experience because I never felt alone. I would contrast it with how I felt after my mom died. It seemed like such a HUGE revelation or point that I could never seem to express well. Thanks for this reference, Beej.