Greetings!
It is only humans that afflict with or without a cause, our heavenly God doesn't affict without a cause, which means our God is a God of love and he would not do to us injustice as he is a God of justice.
In the book of 2 Thessalonians 1:6, we were made to know that there's affliction and hardship inflicted by men and not by God which means that most of the hardships people are passing through are mostly inflicted on them by fellow humans.
Bro. Eli in his teaching made us know in verse 7 of the same scripture that those that afflict us would also be afflicted at the coming of Jesus Christ and his mighty angels in flaming fires and that we the afflicted will now enjoy and be free from their afflictions.
In the book of Lamentations 3:33, the scripture made us understand that God neither afflicts us willingly nor grieves us the children of the earth.
What this means according to the teaching of Bro. Eli is that God would not afflict anyone without a cause. Bro. Eli made us know that it's our sins and transgressions that make us afflict us sometimes and that if we can be free from sin, then we will be free from hardship and affliction as our God is a God of justice and not of injustice.
In conclusion, God would not afflict us without a cause, it's only men who have no fear of God in them that afflict their fellow men and threaten them with hardship.
Thanks for reading.