The Heart of God in Affliction

For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. - Lamentations 3:31-33

God brings affliction into our lives, but not with a heart of stone. He is there as we walk through the pain. Someday there will be no more affliction, no more pain of grief. Everything is working towards eternity with him for those who love him. 

The comfort of God’s governance

“This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort since it teaches us that nothing can happen to us by chance but only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father, who watches over us with fatherly care, sustaining all creatures under his lordship, so that not one of the hairs on our heads (for they are all numbered) nor even a little bird can fall to the ground without the will of our Father.” God’s Governance of All Things - The Belgic Confession

Divine reluctance 

“The one who rules and ordains all things brings affliction into our lives with a certain divine reluctance. He is not reluctant about the ultimate good that is going to be brought about through that pain; that indeed is why he is doing it. But something recoils within him in sending that affliction. The pain itself does not reflect his heart. He is not a platonic force pulling heaven’s levers and pulleys in a way that is detached from the real pain and anguish we feel at his hand. He is—if I can put it this way without questioning his divine perfections—conflicted within himself when he sends affliction into our lives.” Gentle and Lowly - Dane C. Ortlund