I saw a Twilight Zone episode (it may have been the Outer Limits) in which there was a civilization living on a planet orbiting the Bethlehem star. They were approached with the prophetic word that they had the opportunity to surrender themselves for the salvation of another race; and they took it. In that narrative, God destroyed them to save the people of Earth -- but with their consent.

These are very deep waters. With this in mind, I can give you a context for Jesus' cursing of the fig tree.

Let us assume that God exists, and that He allows people to be born with horrible physical deformities. Why might He do this? Is He a sadist? Does He rejoice in suffering? No, He does not. Each life that is lived is equal to the challenges placed before it. It is error -- prideful error -- to evaluate the suffering of others based on what we think we would suffer under the same circumstances. Suffering has two purposes: to teach the one who suffers to surrender to God, and to teach others to love the one who suffers.

If I were a fig tree, and, on the day before Jesus came by, looking for non-existent figs, I were approached by an angel telling me, "Tomorrow, the Master will come, and He will use you to teach others the meaning of fruitfulness. Are you willing to die for Him?" I hope that I would say, Yes, I would die for Him, because this life and this death mean little or nothing, but serving Him is everything.

If someone reading this does not understand this, then, please, know that I know exactly what the difficulty is, and I can help you. Let me know.