Beth Moore, was sitting in an airport terminal, waiting to board a plane. 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 all the people sitting around 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. When she did, she saw a stewardess pushing a wheelchair with the ugliest old man sitting in it that she had ever seen. 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 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 was thinking, “Oh, God, please, not now, not here.” But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the man off of her mind. All of a sudden she knew what God wanted her to do. She was supposed to brush the 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 loudly 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 gonna to talk to me, you gotta speak up, because 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.”
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 noticed the old man crying. She 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. I asked Him to come into my heart many years ago, even before I married my bride.” Then he continued, “You know, I am on my way home after being in the hospital for a long time. I had to have 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, over and over again. Beth was crying, and people all around who were watching were crying.
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 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 the same moment, also calling out to a lost soul who needs to know about His love.
1 Peter 3: 15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”