God's Will?

I have not been able to confirm whether Sarah Palin actually said that the war in Iraq is God's will. But that idea raises some interesting questions:
If there is a God, how do we know his or her (or its) will?
Can we infer God's will from events?
Is it God's will that hurricane's lash Florida and the Southeast?
If so, is that punishment for being warm places to live?
Is it God's will that about 40,000 people die every year in the USA from car accidents, and about 40% of those die from drunk drivers?
If so, what does that mean?
Does God single out certain people for death on the highway?
If that isn't God's will, how do we tell events that are God's will from those that are not?
Was it God's will that my grandmother died from Lou Gehrig's disease?
Or is God too busy with bigger issues?
Is it God's will that 400,000 people die in the USA every year from smoking related illnesses?
If so, does that mean God is trying to warn us away from smoking?
Or are those illnesses simply caused by smoking, and is that a natural event?
When I was in the church as a child, they said, "The Lord moves in mysterious ways."
Amen, brother. Very mysterious.