Questions in Life

After talking with my mom on the phone for a while the other day, I came to spiritual crossroads: I know God has the power to harden and soften hearts (check out the Old Testament), but if a hard heart is hurting His people, why wouldn't he change that heart to make life peaceful for those being hurt? Why continue to let his children get beat up by the one who has the hard, stubborn heart? It wouldn't be a difficult thing for him to do; change someone's heart. If he can get through to Pharoah, he can get through to people today!

I'm sure it is because there is something to learn through those situations, but it just doesn't seem fair. Why would God allow one person or situation take such a heavy toll on others? Why not just fix the problem and make things better?

I can think of a few situations in which families are broken or are going through difficulty and I just don't understand why God doesn't make that situation better in order to make those being hurt not feel that pain anymore. This is probably covered in "Christianity 101", but it just really hit me a few days ago and I'm searching for answers.

God is a loving, just god and I know that he has reason and purpose for every situation, but I think this is one thing that I may not have answered until I am in Glory with him. Maybe it's one of those things that we are supposed to know in part on earth, but know fully in Heaven?