Life today teaches us to ask for explanations of everything. And to believe that, if clearly explained, we will understand. And we often expect the same from God. In doing so we make the mistake that God can fit into our world view. That he owes us an explanation for all that happens. One that we can understand. Like a kid making a motor car out of Lego and believing that this equips him to understand how a real car works.
Nobody says it better than Job...
Job realizes the fault is his for expecting to know the answer, not God’s for failing to provide it. “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful to me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3). Perhaps it is just that he is so awed by the presence of God that he no longer needs an answer.
Read more in this post - Who Can Comprehend the Wisdom of God?
John Piper writes a good article entitled What is Divine Providence...
The term sovereignty does not contain the idea of purposeful action, but the term providence does. Sovereignty focuses on God’s right and power to do all that he wills, but in itself, it does not express any design or goal.
Of course, God’s sovereignty is purposeful. It does have design. It does pursue a goal. But we know this, not simply because God is sovereign, but because he is wise, and because the Bible portrays him as having purposes in all he does. “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isa. 46:10).
The focus [here] is on God’s sovereignty considered not simply as powerful but as purposeful. Historically, the term providence has been used as shorthand for this more specific focus.
Read more here
Why do Bad things happen to good people?
Exactly the words Janet uses (page 46)! Here's what Michael Coren writes on Christian Bible Studies
We've all heard it numerous times: "Why would a God who is all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful allow bad things to happen to good people?" We can also turn the question around: "Why would an all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful God allow good things to happen to bad people?" After all, while seeing good people suffer is horrible, it's not much fun seeing evil people having fun either.
It has to be said, though, that this question is sometimes asked in innocence by people with a genuine desire to understand what seems impossible to understand. Other times it's asked by people who have suffered or whose loved ones have known grief and loss. They honestly want to know: How could God let this happen to me and to mine? Why wouldn't God stop this pain and help me? After all, sometimes we experience devastating suffering. Just consider the Holocaust, the abduction and murder of a child, or the long and painful death of a kind and gentle person.
Read the whole post here