I love the way you started with the Anne Lamott quote and then at the end turned the question on its head and ended with what I read as a reference to, intentional or not, John Lennon's song.

God, however one understands that term loves everyone unconditionally and respects the gift of free will. That is why God does not interfere. A God that loves everyone unconditionally cannot intervene even to protect the saint from the sinner because that would mean God does not love everyone infinitely and unconditionally and equally. God does not show any favoritism.

At least as far as the organized western and middle eastern religions go, the way they present god leads to atheism. Religions have been designed to be believed and thus construct God as a deliverer of human wants if we do as we are told, which God is not. So people either blindly believe in God because the lie of what God is is believable, or reject God because the God defined by religions cannot co-exist with the reality that most people do not get what they want, or are not actually happy, and a world full of seemingly senseless tragedy and really bad things happening to good people.

God created humanity for souls to physically and emotionally experience all aspects of corporeal life. God loves each human as much as God loves each soul. Often the needs of the soul and the needs of its human conflict. https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/the-human-spirit-duality-e456c0729e99 Again, God cannot interfere as that would elevate one love over another.

Your great essay today helped me refine my own thoughts on the subject through leaving this comment. Thank you.