Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?

One of the students in the school I work for, a member of the championship-winning varsity soccer team, smashed into his teammate so hard that his two teeth have been permanently damaged (they’re basically dead, and he’ll have to be out of action as the rest of the team goes to an all-expenses paid trip to Manila to represent Mindanao. 
On the ride to the hospital, in great pain he, being active in youth ministry, would often ask why God allowed this to happen to him despite him being so faithful and so excellent for Him.
Although I haven’t been told personally, I suspect that a friend of mine has left her callous and abusive husband after several years of (a rocky) marriage.  My friend is also a person of faith (I really wanted them to come to my church, especially during this rocky time and before it was too late) but even then, the marriage did not work out.
Lastly, yesterday was September 11, and that day will forever go down in infamy as hundreds of people, innocent people, lost their lives in horrible acts of terror that shook the world.  Why did all of these innocent people have to die?
In devastating times like these, we are forced to ask God why He allows these terrible things to happen. 
To answer that question, here’s Randy Alcorn, theologian and author extraordinaire (author of If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil) as he sits down with Focus on the Family and excellently answers this very tough question in the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.  Enjoy

How about you?  Have you ever had to ask why God has allowed bad things to happen in your life or in a friend's life?