Maybe the only logically possible way for God to bring about the world he desires that would be the greatest good requires him to keep his hands off as much as it might be painful.
For example, volition isn't like chance, God could make free-willed beings that would always choose to do good, but only by causing them to have experienced evil and know its consequences. In the same way, children might disobey and touch a hot stove despite your telling them not to. They will never intentionally touch the stove again when it is hot, even though they could choose to do so.
But of course that's only hypothetical.