Monday I had lunch with an out-of-town friend who has been doing some thinking and writing about the hard places in life. Where is God when everything is going wrong? Who should we blame when life is all messed up—God, ourselves, both, neither? Where is the path out of the dark night?

He doesn’t buy into the old theory that when bad things happen to you it’s a good indication of hidden, unconfused sin in your life. I don’t either.