Jeanne,

It might be for similar reasons that Jesus felt the Father had abandoned Him:

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? (Matthew 27:46)

He said this while on the Cross. Suffering is a result of sin which separates each one of us from God. Jesus took on the sins of the world as He made His remark, which is the beginning of Psalm 22. By the end of the Psalm, however, there is hope that God will rescue us.

In our post-Eden world we all feel as if God has abandoned us now and then. He hasn't, but it feels that way. Sin is like a cloud of darkness that sometimes makes us unable to sense God or His Love. As sinners we must continuously ask for the grace of perseverance, while frequenting Confession and Communion. Our pain is not indicative of God abandoning us, but of us abandoning God.

In our post-Eden world before the Second Coming God does not take away our suffering but enables us to overcome it and become better persons as a result. In this sense suffering can be medicine for the sinner. If we persevere with good will we can use these episodes of pain as our own cross to carry in order to atone for our sins and the sins of others.

In reality God never stops loving us.

Paul