Stray Shots or Doesn't It Matter?

I believe God is in control.  He is the giver and taker of life itself, so when I hear about people getting killed by stray gunfire, I am torn between thinking "See, another needless death because guns are so prevalent" and "Well, I guess their time was up so it really doesn't matter how they died." 

In the PLAIN DEALER today I read an article about a mailman in Cleveland, Ohio, who was simply in his bed and "a stray bullet from a gunfight down the street came through a wall in the front-left corner of his home and struck him in the chest."  Talk about minding your own business--what a shame.  He was 38 years old. (It's like we've gone back to living in the Wild, wild west.) 

Other incidents were mentioned in the article as well including:  "Daniel Lewis, age 75, shot dead on June 27 while sitting in his wheelchair outside his home;

Tony Haynes III, age 8, died the same day after a suspected drunken driver hit him as he rode his bike;

and last week, a robber shot and killed Ebony Jefferson, age 31, as she sat with relatives on her front porch mourning the death of her mother who died of cancer two days earlier."

It seems all these deaths were senseless and certainly tragic.  Yet, the  Bible account of Ahab's death in I Kings 22:29-40 could be looked at as a fluke too.  He disguised himself so the Syrians would know he was the King of Israel but got killed anyway with a "Stray" arrow.  Verse 34 says:

However, during the fighting a soldier shot an arrow without even aiming, and it hit Ahab where two pieces of his armor joined.  He shouted to his chariot driver, "I've been hit!  Get me out of here!"  He died later that day. (contemporary English Version)

God is in control.  God protected Jehospohat when Ahab tried using him as a decoy.  We don't always know why God allows certain things to happen to good people, but God is always good and sometimes, I think once we've accomplished what God has in store for us to do, then he calls us home.  There are some things I don't understand about the Bible but I try to stay focused on   Jesus. 

The important thing is to be ready to meet our maker by receiving Jesus, God's only Son, as our Savior and putting our trust in Him to forgive us our sins.  Our life is like a vapor--short!  Our last Bible verse for VBS this past week was Joshua 24:15 which says, Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.  I have chosen to serve the Lord Jesus Christ all the days of my life.  I hope you have too, but if not, perhaps you will today!