Have you ever felt as if God had let you down, had withdrawn His protecting arm from you? Even the question seems foolish, because we know the answer before we ask it. We pastors who have walked hospital corridors with loved ones have seen the prayers of so many people seemingly go unanswered. We have seen parents pray earnestly for a sick baby, and then have gone to the cemetery to bury the much-prayed-for child. We have sought to comfort men whose wives have slipped from them just when their families needed them the most. We have conducted funerals for dead servicemen, whose families had prayed for their safety the whole time that they were in the combat area.

A young woman sat in my study not long ago and put the questions verbally that every one of us has at least asked silently: "Loo…