Tangled Hair

Beth was sitting in an airport terminal waiting, along with several other people she did not know, to board a plane.  As she waited she pulled out her Bible and began to read.

Suddenly she felt as if the people sitting there around her were looking at her. She looked up, but she realized that they were looking just over her head in the direction right behind her. She turned around to see what everyone was look at and when she did, she saw a stewardess pushing a wheelchair in which sat the ugliest old man she had ever seen. He had long white hair which was a tangled mess. His face was really, really wrinkled and he didn't look at all friendly.

Suddenly, Beth didn't know why, but she felt drawn to the old man. She 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, however, she couldn't get the old man off her mind. Suddenly she knew what God wanted her to do. She was supposed to brush this old man's' tangled hair! She went over 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'm 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, "I guess if you really want to."  Then Beth said, "I don't even have a brush, but I just thought I would ask."

The old man said, "Look in the bag hanging on the back of my chair, there is a brush in there."

Beth got the brush from the bag and started brushing his hair. (Her little girl had long hair so she had lots of practice getting tangles out. She knew how to be gentle with him) She worked for a long time until every last tangle was out.

Just as she was finishing, she heard the old man crying and she went around in front of him and placed her hands on his knees. Kneeling in front of him, looking directly into his eyes, she 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 special surgery in this city far from my home.  My wife couldn't come with me because she is so frail herself."  He sighed, "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.

By then Beth was also crying, the people around her were crying, the stewardess was crying. As they were all boarding their plane, the stewardess stopped Beth and said, '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 then in that moment in also calling out to a lost soul who needed to know about His love.

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