It was April 20, 2005, at the Knoxville airport. She was waiting to board the plane. She had her Bible on her lap and was intent upon what she was doing. She had had a marvelous morning with the Lord. She wants to tell us this because it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you.
She tried to keep from staring but he was such a strange sight. Humped over in his wheelchair, he was skin and bone, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from underneath his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones.
The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean, but strangely out of place on an old man.
She looked down at her Bible as fast as she could, discomfort burning her face. As she tried to imagine what his story might have been, she found herself wondering if she'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, she remembered reading somewhere that he was dead. So, this man in the airport ... was he an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere? There Beth sat; trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a few seats from her. All the while her heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.
(Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern for most of us, isn’t it?)
Beth had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. She had learned that when she began to feel what God feels, something so contrary to her natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing.
There she sat in the blue vinyl chair begging God, “Please don’t make me witness to this man. Not now. I’ll do it on the plane. Please not right here and now. Please I’ll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!" Then she heard it ..."I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair."
The words were so clear. Her heart leapt into her throat, and her thoughts spun like a top. “Do I witness to the man or brush his hair?” Then she prayed, "God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm you're girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a messy if he isn’t redeemed? I am going to witness to this man."
It is as if God had written this statement across the wall of my mind. "That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair."
She looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?"
Beth stumbled over to the wheelchair and knelt down in front of the man and asked, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"
He looked back at her and said, "What did you say?"
"May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"
The man replied, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that. Beth took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?" At that moment, every eye in the place darted right at her. Her face was getting redder and redder and she was breaking out in a sweat as she waited his reply.
He said, "If you really want to."
"Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem, I don't have a hairbrush."
He responded, "I have one in my bag,"
She went around to the back of the wheelchair and unzipped the old man’s old carry-on. She stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. She began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take her time and not to pull.
She brushed and brushed until every tangle was out of his hair. She had never felt that kind of love for another soul in her entire life. She knew without a doubt that it was the very love of God. That He had overtaken her heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while.
Her emotions were so strong and so pure that she knew they had to be God’s. His hair was finally as soft and smooth as and infant’s. She knelt down in front of the old man and asked, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"
He said, "Yes, I do." He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior. You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, "What a mess I must be for my bride."
Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance.
As she was boarding the plane, an airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that?"
Beth answered, "Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!" And they got to share.
She learned a lesson that day. God knows when you are exhausted, when you are hurting, if you are sick and if you just need your hair brushed. Tell Him and He will take care of it.
****
Dr. Charles M. Wood, II is an accomplished instructor of psychology and religion at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College. He is a Christian counselor in Logan — serving, ministering, and donating his time to people from all denominations.
If you would like to contact Dr. Wood, please write: The Logan Banner, c/o The Good Life With Dr. Wood, P.O. Box 720, Logan, WV 25601; or call (304) 752-4658. All letters addressed to Dr. Wood will be forwarded to his office.
Post a Comment
