I believe that God of the Old Testament, and God of the New Testament are one (or three) in the same. God created us in His own image, that is, He created us with intelligence and free will. He gave us instructions, and turned us loose. We screwed up. In Old Testament times God was trying to straighten us out with punishments such as, floods, plagues, famines, raining fire, etc. Nothing He did worked for more than a short time. So, as a last resort, He sent Jesus to live among us, and teach us by example and with God's own Words. And, it was a sink or swim, do or die proposition. Believe in Him, and have eternal life, or not. Then God left it up to us. No more direct interventions in the affairs of men. Those who will open their hearts and minds to Christ's message will be saved, and the all the others will not. It's God's tough love. And, it has been since the beginning. Only His method has changed.
I do believe that God operates within the lives of His faithful followers. I believe in His mercy and miracles in our individual lives. But I do not expect God to rain fire on the Supreme Court, or open the San Andreas Fault to swallow up Hollywood, California. In Old Testament times, yes, that might well have happened. But today, salvation or damnation is left entirely up to us. In a sense, God has traded the stick for the carrot. Now it's just a question of how smart the donkey is.