My pastor once heard a woman stand in church and breathlessly tell of her two-year-old son who fell in a swimming pool, was revived by artificial respiration, and recovered completely. “Isn’t God wonderful!” she exclaimed. Sitting in the audience was another woman whose son also fell in a swimming pool, was pulled from the water, and never regained consciousness. God neither protects Christians with a shield of health nor provides a quick, dependable solution to all suffering. Christians populate hospital wards, asylums, and hospices in approximate proportion to the world at large.
