God is okay with multitasking. I know this because of the many times He has decided to speak to me while I am both driving and listening to Christian radio. This time I was hauling homemade chili out to the hangar where my husband works. I tuned in too late to get the pastor's name, but he was talking about Noah's flood and how God had given the people 120 years to repent, and that God would not have killed, even then, people He knew were going to repent. This simple surmise rocked my world. Of course God would not let die and consign to hell those who would have repented if given more time. I was embarrassed to realize that I had spent so many years as a Christian with a distorted view of God. I had subconsciously pictured God tapping His spiritual shoe, staring at His holy hourglass, impatiently waiting for people to come to repentance before curfew. As if God would dangle forgiveness near us like a pinata and snatch it away before we can reach it shouting, "Too late!" How could I think so little of the God I have known so long? It was my turn to repent. About time.
But even stronger than my embarrassment was my relief. While my son was drowning in alcohol, I was afraid that he might not join the rest of our family in heaven, that he would die before he had a chance to repent. The thought terrified me. Graciously, God relieved that fear when He proved He was reaching out to Tracy on the road to Rimrock. But now I realize that our patient, all knowing God, who is not bound by time, will not send to hell any of those He chose for salvation before the foundation of the world, because they were a little too late. That does not mean all children of believers will be saved because, though Christ chooses us, we must also choose Him. But it does mean that time is not the deciding factor. If there is any possibility of repentance, God will keep them alive until that time. Conversely, the book of Revelation shows us, those who choose to deny and defy Christ, continue to do so no matter how much time and warning they are given. Also, as the example of the thief on the cross teaches us, repentance may come late in life. The thief's family may never have known about his change of heart. We may not live to see the answer to our prayers either.
That does not mean there is no sense of urgency for our lost lambs' repentance or for those of us praying for them. Repentance comes through the Holy Spirit's conviction and it is never a good idea to tell God you'll get back to Him later. And those who are truly saved, but choose to wander, should remember that there are sins which lead to death. Ananias and Saphira lied to the Spirit and wound up lying dead. Corinthian Christians who tried to party hardy at the Lord's Supper demonstrate that unrepentant believers may be subject to severe penalties and early withdrawal (from Earth). Yet even those bullheaded believers went to heaven where both they, and the reputation of the church, were better off.
Now that I am thinking rightly about God, I want to let that thinking change my prayer life. I will continue to pray for my prodigal, but I will no longer pray as if I were depositing spiritual coins in a divine repentance meter that is about to expire. God's eyes are not on some timer, they are on my son. And mine should be on His.
