I understand your confusion, and attempts to wrap my head around it leave me with a headache sometimes as well.
As far as "there must have been God to cause it" though... that never flew with me. After all, if the explanation is "An incomprehensible being waved his or her hand, causing everything to form", well... then everything
still just kind of popped out of nowhere, at least for all intents and purposes.
Contrarily... let's say we finally completely understand God. What he is, how he did what he did, etc. The same questions remain, but applied higher up. What was around before God? How did God simply form out of nothing? Did someone make God?
As far as I'm concerned, bringing up God just moves the goalposts a little, and leaves the questions right where they are. It doesn't present a simpler explanation, but actually a much more complex and unlikely one.
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Dan Carroll