Why Does God Allow us to Suffer?

I felt it appropriate to write this note now because of circumstances in my own life as well as the lives of those close to me.

Let us start with the basic logic behind this question...

Why does a omnicient, omnibenevolent, omnipotent God allow evil?
If God were good, he would destroy evil.
If God were all powerful, he could destroy evil.
Evil has not been destroyed.
Therefore, there is no all good, all powerful God.

These also beg the question; Why did God let this happen to me?

Let us analyze the logic of how humanity came to its present situation.

God's creation was good.
Free will is an essential part of true humanity.
Humans are not good.
So humans, then, have defiled God's creation.

"...the entire canon...tells a story which, from the bewildering variety of angles, is all about what God is doing about evil." N.T. Wright

There is a flaw with the basic assumption behind the logic that God is not good. That is that "Evil has not been destroyed." In reality, evil has not been destroyed yet.

Let us also remember that God suffered with us and suffers with us, as Jesus, who is human and God. He understands our suffering and suffers with us.

"Evil is only the absence of God."

"Therefore, consider it all joy, brethren, when you encounter various trials as they foster perseverence and patience in faith."

(Notes taken from lecture by John Stonestreet)

Sometimes suffering will occur in our own lives, such that we think to ourselves that God must not exist or this would not be happening. When in reality we are not really seeing that evil is not a thing that can exist, it is rather a lack of what should be, and in reality is caused by us.
The idea that God is going to make everybody feel better in this life is wrong and misconcieved. He has given us fellowship for that. His job is to love us and let us come to Him so that we will no longer be hindered by the things of this world. Sickness, death, and the suffering of the innocent, are all temporary and our concern with them should not extend beyond what we are doing about it at the moment.