I've been pondering how to write what I want to say. Such a hard thing to get out; because that means having to go through it all over again. I didn't lose someone to an accident. But my siter-in-law, who is very much a sister to me, did. And that has affected my brother and their kids. With her permission, I am including a picture from the accident.
When we are hit with an unexpected death, one of the questions we ask is, "Why did God let this happen?!" I have had Jahovah Witnesses come to my door and want to know if I've ever asked that question. Of course I have! We all have, at some point! As a Christian, what do you say?
Here's what this Christian says: God doesn't cause accidents. He doesn't "let" them happen. People do. People cause them, and people let them happen. What God does is prepare for it. He puts the pieces into place that need to be in place. God is the Ultimate Chess Master. He knows all the moves He needs to make ahead of time. And being the God He is, He doesn't tell us which pieces to move. He lets us make those choices ourselves (yes, even the obvious bad ones that make others face palm). But as any good chess player will tell you, for everyone one move you have planned, your opponent will never move the way you want them to. So you need to have several back up moves. That's what He does.
So in this accident, I believe (and I have to believe, or I would go mad trying to understand God and why this happened to good people) that He put pieces into play to avoid the accident. I don't know details, so I can only speculate. But perhaps He had the guy's alarm go off a little too late, trying to dely his departure. Maybe He tried to slow Ed down by sending traffic his way. Perhaps He made that light yellow trying to slow the guy down, but the guy countered the move by speeding up. Maybe enough red lights would delay Ed's arrival at that intersection. Perhaps God sent that phone call expecting the guy to pull over to take it. In seeing that the guy didn't move the way God was intending, God stopped Ed instead. If he's not moving through that intersection, he won't get hit. But the guy still came, and he still chose the wrong moves, the kind that cost a chess player the game. And all God could do at that critical point, is save a spot for Ed next to Him. And to begin sending prayers and love to Ed's family, because they are going to need it.
God gave us free will. And it's up to us to use it wisely. Ed was helmeted and following the road rules. He chose wisely. The other guy, didn't. It does seem unfair that the ones who do the right thing should be ripped from this world. So many were affected by this accident. Ed's wife lost her beloved husband, her companion, and her income. Ed's daughter - who worked as a nurse for her mother - lost her job. There are hospital bills, credit card debts, and mortgages to be paid. The loss of the income for Ed's daughter means that now her family is struggling to make ends meet. On top of all that, it seems that the case against the guy isn't going as well as Ed's family had hoped. The guy may walk (he certainly shouldn't be driving), he may be fined, but long term jail time seems unlikely. WHY?!
All I can say is that this guy has to live with the fact that he has taken a life by being stupid. God will not make it easy on him. He may forget it, he may shrug it off - after all, he's still alive - he might even be grateful that he wasn't charged with something heavier. But that just means that God is going to make it so much more worse fo rhim. God can't make people do things they don't want to do, but He can certainly speak to a person's heart and soul. And in their sleep, their concience is vulnerable. God will send love and blessings down to Ed's family. He already has. The support the family has seen and felt is more than the other guy is getting. This may make someone great of the grandchildren left behind. This could be that one last case in the statistic that changes things for everyone. Or perhaps nothing will come of it. But Ed will still be with God, and his family will still have his love, and that other guy will only get pity.