I once came across an atheist meme depicting a back and forth between an atheist and a Christian. I don't have the meme itself, but it went something along the lines of:
A: How do you explain sunsets?
C: God did it.
A: Rainbows?
C: God did it.
A: Puppies?
C: God did it.
A: Millions of innocent children dying painful deaths every day?
C: God di... ah, you almost got me there.
This meme sums up two very common atheist clichés. The first is very common among atheists. They suggest that a Christian's thirst for knowledge is too easily quenched by those three little words: "God did it". This is a straw man that ironically flies in the face of scientific history. See, science was pioneered by Christians, some heretical, others orthodox.
There is a very good reason for this. Believing something was created hardly quells one's curiosity about that creation. Imagine what a boring world we'd live in if it did. You're literally surrounded by man made objects. Do you believe we'd develop better computers if we made up some silly story about an explosion in a junk factory starting off a long process by which computers evolved slowly over time from a tin can? Just because we believe God created the heavens and the earth doesn't mean we'll be any less curious about how it works.
But of course, the whole "God done it" canard isn't the main focus of the original meme. Rather, the focus is on the problem of evil. If we, as Christians, want to give credit to God for the good things, should we not also give Him responsibility for the bad? Richard Attenborough makes this argument in a more sophisticated way: He notes that when Creationists point to nature as evidence for God, we quote beautiful things, like butterflies, or orchids. "But I always have to think, too, of a little boy sitting on the banks of a river in West Africa who has a worm boring through his eyeball, turning him blind before he's 5 years old." (1) And so the question is, why does God get credit for the beautiful things, but somehow the worm is not His fault?
As an interesting side note, this argument can often be an example of a double standard. Many atheists claim that their view is based on science, and that they will only accept scientific arguments for God. Yet, this argument is a theological one! Rather than saying "this is what we observe via repeatable experimentation", it asks "if God exists, why do we observe this?" So, why are atheists allowed to make non-scientific arguments if they won't accept them in return?
But apart from this, the flaw in the argument is that it neglects a rather significant point. Christians, unlike atheists, do not put all our eggs in one academic basket, so to speak. We use science and other fields, such as philosophy, and history, which is not a fact we try to disguise, deny, or shy away from.
History is especially important here, because before asking "why did God...", we must first ask "did God..."? And the answer, in this case, is actually no, at least in short. See, the Bible does not just say "God created everything" and leave it at that. Rather, it details what creation was like when He did. And that creation did not include children dying, nor did it include parasitic worms.
See, the Bible describes an event colloquially known as "The Fall". The Fall is when corruption entered God's originally "very good" world because mankind rather intentionally rebelled against God. As a result of this rebellion, God cursed man, and all that had been subject to his dominion (that is, all of creation), and it has been subject to futility ever since. In other words, refusing to credit God for humming birds because of a worm that can't even complete its own lifecycle if it erroneously finds its way into a child's eye (yeah, Attenborough left that part out...) is like refusing to credit Audi for their cars because some of them are rusty. The rust isn't part of the design, it's a result of not taking care of it.
What I have just given you is an incredibly simplistic summary of what is nevertheless basic Christian doctrine. Atheists routinely take only half of the story and run with it, but in this particular case, it is inexcusable. Only an amateur doesn't know about the Fall. Now, in fairness to whoever made the original meme, this may well be what they are. Maybe, this is a person who sat at the back of the class firing spit balls at the nerdy kids, and has gone his whole life getting his theological knowledge from cartoons like The Simpsons and Family Guy, so he randomly thought one day "huh, guess I'll make a meme demonstrating I don't know the basics of the religion I'm criticising". But even if we're willing to grant that, is David Attenborough so uninformed? Or what about Richard Dawkins, who makes a career selling his atheism? I've had atheists claiming they used to be Christians asking me these questions, to which they have apparently never heard an answer. There are times when it could feasibly be just genuine ignorance. Every generation must learn everything anew, after all. But I would say at least 7 out of 10 people who bring up the problem of evil in any form already know the answer. So why use it?
The truth is, mankind never really gave up his rebellious ways. Indeed, all too often they seem to increase. Each and every one of us rebels against God, as did our forefather in the Garden. This rebellion, called "sin", merits death. But the God who created us "very good" in the beginning is actually rather fond of us, in spite of our rebellion. Therefore, foreseeing our rebellion, He set in motion a plan to redeem us. He would enter creation as the man, Jesus Christ, who unlike us never sinned. Because He never sinned, He deserved no punishment, yet He received it anyway. He died in literally the most agonising way mankind has ever designed; a death so brutal, the word "excruciating" was invented because of it. Because He, though innocent, stood before God as if He was guilty, we, who are guilty, can stand before God as if we were innocent. There is a condition. We must repent of the sin that caused us death, confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead. If we do this, we will be granted eternal life, where we will experience what life really looks like when God is responsible for literally everything.
References
1. Attenborough, Sir. David - Sir David Attenborough's View on Science & Religion | Life on Air | BBC Studios (link)