I read this by Richard Wurmbrand, "I have known no believer who at some time or other did not struggle with his faith because of pain. Why should a good God  have ordained pain?  "Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself," wrote Albert Schweitzer.

Experience has shown us that what is not painful does not work.  We do harm to our bodies with smoking, excessive drinking, poor eating habits and promiscuity.  Our soft choices may lead us to cancer and heart disease, but because we feel no pain before it is too late we continue these suicidal practices.  Pain is the sign of the intense desire of God to do us good.

If God permits suffering, we can be sure it is more painful for Him who permits it than for us who bear it.  If we had His wisdom and sought our salvation as passionately as He seeks it for us, we would choose to embrace or walk through the very sufferings that afflict us.  Therefore, believers bear with understanding the suffering imposed upon them.

Dostosyevski, sentenced to death in his youth and pardoned when he was already on the gallows said that in the moment when he slipped from the noose around his neck, he had an illumination: "As an atheist I had been in prison even when I was free, but now jail has  become for me the gate to freedom."'

Do 21st century American Christians really understand God?

I'm pretty sure those Christians in persecuted countries understand better.