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I've been exposed to an idea in the Church, and I must admit I've believed it - at least subconsciously. We get told that God makes bad things happen to us in order to get our attention. If we don't pray enough, read our Bible, act like we should, then God hurts us so we pay attention to him. Are we to believe this? Apparently God relates to people like a twelve-year-old boy. 
I just thought about this the other day, I've had a lot of things go wrong lately. I haven't been praying much. I haven't had much to say. So I've been wondering if God's trying to get my attention. Then I realized I think that is all crap. If God is a loving father, then he's not going to relate to me in such an immature manner. 
That kind of behavior is not acceptable in any relationship, is it? If my child, or wife, doesn't feel like spending time with me I don't get to threaten them with punishment and it certainly wouldn't make them love me. God is called a lover, and lovers are the ones who do the chasing and the wooing. Wooing is generally not done with force.
    Unfortunately we think God is a dysfunctional father; if we step out of line, or don't pay enough attention to him, he gets our attention by hurting us.