Sometimes Christians get to become gracious parables of salvation in Christ.
"Our son has been putting us through hell," she said. "Didn't even know where he was for months until last night. My husband and I were eating dinner, and suddenly, without warning, he bursts through the front door and begins cursing us, demanding money, refusing to join us at the table. After an ugly scene, he stormed down the hall and slammed the door to his room."
It's sad what parents are sometime forced to endure from their children.
"Well, my husband gets up, goes over to the kitchen, pours himself a drink, turns on the TV, and slumps down in his chair. That's how he handles these moments. I walked down the hall and said, 'Son, can we talk? I just want to talk.' I could hear him curse me from inside his bedroom. I tried to open the door. It was locked.
"So I went to the garage, got a big hammer, walked back in, stood before my son's bedroom door, drew back, and with only one blow was able to knock the doorknob clean off the door. Took about a third of the door with it. Then I lunged at my surprised-looking son, grabbed him around the throat, and said, 'I'm not going to put up with this shit anymore. You are better than this! I gave birth to you, went into labor for you, and I'm not giving you away!'
"I really think something important happened for us last night. I think he heard me. We're on a new track," she said.
I believe God is something like that.
And that's why we can't pronounce some last word on the possibility of the salvation of all. The story continues in your life and mine, maybe even in your death and mine, because the story of the possibility of our eternal destiny isn't over until God says it's over, until God gets as much victory as God wants.
~ William H. Willimon, United Methodist Bishop of Birmingham
Who Will Be Saved?, p.67
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