Job VI-VIII

What I'm starting to understand is that people don't seem to be in line with the Bible about a couple things...one major one is shown in Job. He is upright; so much so that God is showing him off to satan. And yet calamity strikes him. It's a huge blow, and all his friends say it's because he did something wrong, when in fact, something quite opposite has occurred.
Depending on the person, people still conclude that if you're upright and walking how God wants you to, good things happen. And if you're not, bad things happen. But not only does Job disprove this, but Psalms often does as well.
That doesn't mean that if you're wicked life will be great and if you're righteous life will be terrible. I think both things happen to both people. God uses trials for a variety of things: to test us, to grow us, and to bring us closer to Him are just a few. I'm sure He has more reasons. But whatever the reason, it is always good. God wants what is best for us.
Another thing that doesn't exactly go with Job, but still something I've been learning is that God does send the hard times sometimes... I've grown up hearing that God doesn't make bad things happen, but rather, let's them happen. I'd like to argue that while sometimes that's the case, as in Job, I do believe that He causes bad things to occur occasionally... This is not to say He does evil or bad things. By no means. But if you read through the prophets and other such old testament books, God does bring judgement. He makes the things happen. But what you must realize is that He always does it for good. He wants His children to cry out for Him and to be saved, and they need to not live in comfort for that to happen generally. Another thing is that He is a just God, and before Jesus, He often dealt with punishment for sins while someone was on earth. Now...this seems contradictory to what I said earlier...but the thing is that we have to be purged of our sins to be close to Him. And therefore things need to be dealt with. He wants to know us, be friends with us. But He is also our Father, and as a loving father has to correct his son, though it pains him to, God punishes His children with just as much pain as a father would.
I realize I'm treading on thin ice with all this, because I'm not very articulate with words and getting my point across as well as say, a theologian might be. But maybe it'll make sense to someone and help them. And if it does, I have one more thing to mention before I fall asleep: people look around and see bad things and conclude that if there is a God, He cannot be loving. And while I have a whole lot to say about that, and I may cover it another time, what I want to say now is this: we don't deserve anything but hell. We cannot demand or expect the royalty treatment by God. But rather than scorn us all and send us sinners to hell, God forgives, and loves, and is continually patient and faithful. Bad things happen, but many times it is the bad that makes us search for the good.