Today I made a mad dash to our big box sporting store to buy our kids last-minute summer camp needs. Our kids will be campers and counselors for a big chunk of the summer, so I needed to stock up.  So, off to Academy Sports and Outdoors I went.

After zig-zagging the entire acreage of the enormous sporting goods retailer, I headed to the register and placed a summer’s worth of socks, underwear, and every other camp need on the black conveyer belt. As I placed my last item on the belt, I looked up to see my cashier run (and I mean run) toward the store exit and then through the glass doors. She was a white-haired older woman who could have easily been mistaken as someone’s saintly, sweet grandma – that is, until she sprinted from behind her register and yelled in a deep, authoritative voice, “You STOP! Get back here!”

I stood there wondering how I managed to all of a sudden enter an action movie. I just came in for some camp gear.

A couple minutes later, the white-haired heroine returned. She was trying to catch her breath yet was altogether energized. I asked what happened and she told me she spotted a man with his arms full of unpaid merchandise running out of the store. She said when she saw the thief, she just started running after him.

I told her I couldn’t believe how brave and courageous she was, running after a criminal like that, and how she did it with such boldness. She was empowered as she told me she got the license plate number of the get-away car and knew he’d be caught. She said a la Clint Eastwood, “And I can’t wait.”

Again, I commended the courage it takes to run toward a possibly dangerous situation. She looked me in the eye and said, “I’m a warrior.”

And I could tell she was a warrior. She was on a high from chasing down the bad guy and was further jazzed about the thought of him being caught. It was a treat to be in her presence.

Then I asked, “Do you read your Bible?”

She looked at me like I’d just made the biggest non-sequitur in history and detoured what was a great conversation. She answered, “I’ve read my Bible some.”

I told her I only asked because she reminded me of one of my all-time favorite women in the Bible – a woman who is not given a name, only called a wise woman. At that, she leaned in to hear more. I told her about this woman whom I’ve never heard mentioned from the pulpit, but someone whom I can’t wait to meet once I get to Heaven.

She’s found in 2 Samuel 20:16-22. This wise woman arrived on the scene as Joab, commander of Israel’s army, was chasing a terrorist who had taken refuge in a city called Abel Beth Maacah. Joab and his army decide they were going into the city to get the terrorist. They started building ramps up to the city wall and battering another wall to bring it down. As they were ramming the city wall, this wise woman called out from the city and asked Joab to come speak to her.

Let’s just pause right there. Here is an Old Testament woman asking the commander of Israel’s army to come speak to her. She wasn’t working her way up the chain of command or cowering in her home. She went directly to the top and asked for an audience with the most senior official. She got things done.

Joab went to her and this wise woman respectfully asked why his army was planning to attack her city. She told Joab her town was a peaceful place, and the people were known for their wisdom. So, why in the world was he commanding his army to lay siege on her fair city? Joab assured her that he meant no harm to her people, but he was going in to get a terrorist who had slithered his way into her city. Then he proposed, “Hand over this one man, and I’ll withdraw from the city.”

“The woman said to Joab, ‘His head will be thrown to you from the wall’” (2 Samuel 20:21).

When my cashier heard this, her eyes widened. I assured her, “Yes, that’s in your Bible.”

I finished the story, telling her Joab did, in fact, get the terrorist’s head and withdrew his troops from the city. And with that, the city and its people were saved because this wise woman (again, that’s what the Bible calls her) didn’t flinch when it came to the safety of her people. Her courage saved the people of her town from getting caught in the cross-fire that surely would have killed many in her city. Her wisdom and decisiveness were a protective covering over her townspeople.

As I finished telling my cashier about this woman of the Bible that she reminded me of, she became even more energized. She said, “I’ve never heard of her! Oh, I love that story!”

I wrote down the chapter and verse of the story so she could read it herself. She said, “I can’t wait to read this! I can’t wait to look this up.” She called out positive acclamations as I walked toward the exit and then she said, “Julie! Hey Julie! I love you!”

That’s not at all what I expected to get from my trip to Academy, but the Lord is sweet like that. The wise woman of 2 Samuel 20 may not have a name, but thanks to my white-haired cashier, she’s got a face.

In case you’re wondering, as the Lord would have it, I was able to tell this whole story without one person in line behind me. What are the odds?

I have never heard a sermon, read a blog, or done a Bible study that included the courageous woman of 2 Samuel 20. She doesn’t exactly afford a clean lesson for the Sunday crowd. But courage isn’t always clean and it doesn’t always come packaged the way we expect. Leave it to the Lord to use a woman to safeguard an entire city, a young David to slay a giant, and an innocent servant leader to die on a cross to pay for our sins. He is only good.

Dear Lord, I love Your creativity. You are never boring and You fill us with awe. Thank You for the interaction You orchestrated in the check-out line at Academy. And thank You for the story of the Wise Woman in 2 Samuel. Lord, please give us courage, Your courage, in our lives. Let us not cower in the face of injustice and evil. Fortify us with Your strength. We love You, too. Maranatha! Amen.