God's will or God's work?

"Everything happens for a reason." "It just wasn't God's will." 

Pithy little sayings I've heard all my life. While they're reductionist now, I never questioned them as a kid. 

Now, though, I think if we see God's will in everything, we miss genuine despair.  We lose sight of hope.  We lose sight of God's will. 

God isn't some puppet master. If he controlled the world this way, there would be no lying, killing, or pain. Things happen to us that are contrary to God's will. Drunk drivers. Cancer. Child abuse. God never wills those. 

Instead, what we really should say: "This will be redeemed in time." Eventually, God will make it right. 

What that says is not that God is in control, but that God is with us, working, saving, transforming.