chris wright: asking 'why?'

In introducing the section of his book, The God I Don't Understand, that deals with evil and suffering, Chris Wright makes this valuable observation:

Whereas we often ask "Why?" people in the Bible more often asked "How long?". Their tendency was not to demand that God give an explanation for the origin of evil but rather to plead with God to do something to bring about an end to evil. And that, we shall see, is exactly what God has promised to do.

(page 27)