I see it this way.
God wanted a creation that was free to either love him or not love him. This is why the choice for evil was even placed in the garden. Adam and Eve chose sin and thus mankind suffers because of it.
It may not seem fair but we see examples of it in our everyday lives. Children go hungry when parents make bad financial decisions. The people of a nation suffer when it's leaders choose war or some other policy that may harm them. It doesn't seem fair, but the choices of others affect us all.
This also works in that God's choice to send his Son also made provisions for any person who believes to be saved. So anyone, regardless of their situation, can be adopted as a child of God when they place their trust in Christ.
God is sovereign, just as a king is sovereign. However, this doesn't mean that all the people of the kingdom obey the king's will. Some choose to obey him, other choose not to. Free will is in play here, because I believe free will is needed in order for love to be fully expressed. We see this even in Jesus when he asks the father to "take the cup" away so that he would not have to die on the cross, but he humbled himself and by his choice, obeyed. He even told Peter he could send legions of angels to defend him if he so chose.
