One of the great challenges to faith is how, despite doing everything right, there is no shortage of bad outcomes even – and especially – to good people.
I want to suggest a somewhat paradoxical explanation: G-d withdraws to allow/force us to grow. His withdrawal is not evidence of His absence: it is evidence of His desire for us to grow into our partnership.
To me, this helps explain a great deal, though the idea that G-d backs away (much as a parent does when helping a child to take control of their own lives) can be a hard pill to swallow.
Here is the textual argument:
The word yasar means “remove” – Jacob removes (yasar) sheep from Lavan’s flock (G. 30:25), Pharaoh removes (yasar) his ring to give to Joseph (G. 41:41). A later Pharoah begs Moses to remove (yasar) plagues (E. 8:8, 10:16).
The Torah uses the same word to suggest discipline:
Bear in mind that your G-d disciplines (yasar) you just as a householder disciplines (yasar) his son. (D. 8:5) The same word is used for the same purpose in three other verses as well! (L. 26:18, 23, 28)
And lastly, Moses explains to the people that this same word for removal, and discipline, is also used to mean a lesson:
Take thought this day that it was not your children, who neither experienced nor witnessed the lesson (m-yasar) of your G-d—G-d’s majesty, mighty hand, and outstretched arm. (D. 11:2)
The word mussar (shown above as m-yasar), suggests a lesson, an opportunity to learn from experience. When G-d withdraws, we learn and grow. At least that may be G-d’s plan!
P.S. The prefix m in Hebrew denotes the essence of a thing: m-yam, water, is the essence of yam, sea; m-kdsh, the tabernacle, is the essence of kodesh, holiness; m’asar, tithing, might be the purpose of the word asar, ten.