Less understandable to me is that even Christians stumble over this same obstacle. They have been led to believe that if God were really a good God, and if they were truly good Christians, then they would be shielded from the hardships others endure, or (they may have been told) when hardships do come, Jesus would be their bridge over troubled waters, keeping them from harm. Instead, when they find themselves sinking in a flood of woes, they are caught by surprise. Then they wonder whether God was ever there to begin with.
