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.
All of a sudden 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. She turned around to see what everyone
was looking at, and when she did, she saw a stewardess pushing a wheelchair, with the
ugliest old man sitting in it, that she had ever seen before. He had this 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 said 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 all of a sudden she knew what God wanted her to
do. She was supposed to brush this old man's hair.
She went and knelt down in front of the old man, and
said "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 said, "Sir may I have the honor of brushing your hair for you?" He
answered, "If you are talking to me, you are going to have to speak up, I am
practically deaf." So 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, "I guess if you
really want to." She thought, "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." So she got the brush out and started brushing his hair. (She has a
little girl with long hair, so she has had lots of practice 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 went and put her
hands on his knees, kneeling in front of him again looking directly into his eyes, and
said "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
have been in the hospital for a long time and had to have a special surgery in this town
far from my home. My wife couldn't come with me because she is so frail herself." He
said, "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, also calling out to a lost soul who needed to know about His love.