Sometimes those things happen in life that we just cannot reasonably explain in light of our limited knowledge of who God is and how He works. It's times like these that the simple Christian quip "God is in control; He is sovereign" just don't bring much resolution or peace.
I have a friend going through one of these times right now. He is in the midst of a pretty chaotic storm of emotion attempting to gel with rationality. We have had some pretty intense talks about this whole issue only to realize we have no answer. Here is what I don't buy...I don't buy the typical cop-out Christians automatically go to by simply dropping the phrase "God is sovereign." Of course this is true, but this doesn't even begin to address the process it is to sort through the torrent of emotions that often accompany those moments in life we simply cannot explain. It does not explain away how one minute we can think rationally through the circumstances at hand, while the next we are on our knees in desperate prayer guided only by the muses of passion and emotion. Yes God is sovereign, but man, in his limited capacity, still cries out for meaning in a world that often times appears otherwise meaningless.
Perhaps, rather than offering our "Christianese" quips to brothers and sisters wrestling with such issues, we should instead simply offer a listening ear and time on our knees.