Harold is 81 years old and one day after worship he came up to me and said, "There is something I want you to preach on before too long. When I was eleven years old, my mother died. The good people at the church kept on telling me it was God's will for her to die. Do you think that it was God's will to take the life of a young boy's mom? Now that I'm getting older, I plan on seeing her again, soon. Before I do, I'd like to hear what you think about God's will."

That question and Paul's words in Ephesians 1 raise all sorts of questions. I bet before his mother died, the doctors worked hard on her for some time, using their very best medical knowledge. Were they working against God's will? I don't know the circumstances surrounding her death, but if it was a car accident — was God at the wh…