That Moronic Arminian Question

One response I frequently get from Arminians strikes me as particularly bizarre. When I assert God's absolute predestination of all things, they respond with, "Well then why do (fill in the blank)?" I find it incomprehensible that they think that predestination implies that we should all stand around in a catatonic state while God operates the universe around us. How can they not be conscious of what a silly caricature that is?

Predestination answers the question of why things occur. Things occur because it is the purpose of God that they should do so: "He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (Daniel 4:35). To my mind, the concept of God implies exactly what this verse asserts, that He must be in sovereign control of all things.

However, the Arminian pretends that Calvinist thought stops there, as if "why" were the only issue. Does he really believe that a Calvinist cannot conceive of the question of "how"?

Why do things happen? Because God has determined that they shall. How do they happen? Well, why am I alive? Because God has so determined. But how do I live? By eating, drinking, breathing, keeping warm, etc. The error of the Arminian is his assumption that the answer to the first question covers the answer to the second, and that is obviously not the case. God has chosen that I live (for this moment, at least) by food, water, air, warmth, etc. That is, by means. The answer to the first question does not include the answer to the second.