Tangled Hair
Beth, was
sitting at an airport terminal, waiting to board a plane. She was sitting
there with several other people who were also waiting, whom she did not
know.
As she waited, she pulled out her Bible and started reading.
Suddenly she felt as if the people sitting there around her, were looking
at her. She looked up, but realized that they were looking just over her
head, in the direction right behind her.
When she turned around
to see what everyone was looking at she saw a stewardess pushing a
wheelchair, with the ugliest old man sitting in it, that she had ever seen
before. He had long white hair that was all tangled and such a mess. His
face was really, really wrinkled, and he didn't look friendly at
all.
She didn't know why, but she felt drawn to the man, and thought
at first that God wanted her to witness to him. In her mind she said she
was thinking, "Oh, God, please, not now, not here."
No matter
what she did, she couldn't get the man off of her mind, and suddenly she
knew what God wanted her to do. She was supposed to brush this old man's
hair.
She knelt down in front of the old man, and asked "Sir may I
have the honor of brushing your hair for you?"
He said
"What?"
She thought, "Oh great, he's hard of hearing." Again, a little
louder, she asked, "Sir, may I have the honor of brushing your hair for
you?"
He answered, "If you are going to talk to me, you are going to
have to speak up, I am practically deaf."
This time, she was
almost yelling, "Sir may I please have the honor of brushing your hair for
you?"
Everyone was watching to see what his response would be. The old
man just looked at her confused, and said "Well, I guess if you really
want to."
She said, "I don't even have a brush, but I thought I
would ask anyway."
He said, "Look in the bag hanging on the back of my
chair, there is a brush in there."
She got the brush out and
started brushing his hair. (She had a little girl with long hair, so she
had lots of experience in getting tangles out, and knew how to be gentle
with him.) She worked for a long time, until every last tangle was
out.
Just as she was finishing up, she heard the old man crying, and
she put her hands on his knees, knelt in front of him again looking
directly into his eyes, and asked "Sir, do you know Jesus?"
He
answered, "Yes, of course I know Jesus. You see, my bride told me she
couldn't marry me unless I knew Jesus, so I learned all about Jesus, and
asked Him to come into my heart many years ago, before I married my
bride."
He continued, "You know, I am on my way home to go and see my
wife. I've been in the hospital for a long time, and had to have a special
surgery in a town far from my home. My wife couldn't come with me, because
she is so frail herself. I was so worried about how terrible my hair
looked, and I didn't want her to see me looking so awful, but I couldn't
brush my hair, all by myself."
Tears were rolling down his
cheeks, as he thanked Beth for brushing his hair. He thanked her over and
over again.
She was crying, people all around witnessing this were
crying, and as they were all boarding the plane, the stewardess, who was
also crying, stopped her, and asked, "Why did you do that?"
And
right there was the opportunity, the door that had been opened to share
with someone else, the love of God.
We don't always understand
God's ways, but be ready, He may use us to meet the need of someone else,
like He met the need of this old man, and in that moment, He may also be
calling out to a lost soul who needs to know about His love.
Author
Unknown
