TANGLED HAIR
(warning:
long but worth the reading) 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. She said 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 going to talk 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
"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."
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."
Author Unknown
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