Or else what?

Psalms 10:1-18 Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? (2) In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. (3) For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD. (4) In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God."
(5) His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. (6) He says in his heart, "I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity." (7) His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under 

his tongue are mischief and iniquity. (8) He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; (9) he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. (10) The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. (11) He says in his heart, "God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it."

 The invisibility of God, both literally and in times of evil, is the most constant source of angst for those asking about God.  It seems terribly inappropriate of God to exist in such a mysterious way.  But we assume much.  Shakespeare simplifies it this way: "To err is human".  What scriptue tells us is that our inability to see God is very closely related to our inability to see and renounce our own sin.  We take our failures to be part of the mix, no big deal.  Hoever, the human rejection of divine wisdom is the most compelling answer for a cruel and lonely world.  We regularly dismiss God, claiming our right to live our own lives, and then lament his absence when our ways our found wanting.

Does that mean that those who suffer do so directly because of their failures?  Yes and no.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Yet, God's view of reality is interconnected.  We do not live in careful columns.  My acts affect yours and yours mine.  I suffer from my own contributions to pollution, but I also suffer from everyone else's contribution to pollution.  A sin stained world is dangerous and unhealthy place.  It is not the garden in which only good dwelt.  We wanted to know more, and now we do.