Nope, not the latest “Die Hard” movie title… or Vin Diesel…or Sandra Bullock in a runaway bus.

The word “hijacked” makes my gut clench…how about you?  It conjures up images in my mind of jet planes, cars with babies in the back seat, and tragic endings.

Rather than the drama of a 5 o’clock news reel, I’ve been pondering the silent, lurking, stealthy, stalking kind of hijacking.  You know, the kind that sneaks up on you…such as a serious medical diagnosis…job loss…financial ruin…dreams that turn to ashes…betrayal…death.  These are the everyday hijackings that occur in all our lives.  No one is exempt.

They come from seemingly out of nowhere,  causing us to lose focus on all that is good and beautiful in our journey.  It feels like we’ve been blindsided and slammed to the ground, wondering if we will ever be able to pick ourselves up and continue on.

One of my favorite miracles in the Bible is from Luke 5:17-26.  It was a normal teaching day for Jesus.  He was surrounded by religious leaders, His enemies, who were always looking for a way to get rid of him, and the crowds of broken, sick, oppressed, weary, common folk like you and me.  A paralyzed man had been carried on a stretcher, who knows how far, by precious friends. They had faith that Jesus could heal him. The house where Jesus was teaching was jammed packed and the friends couldn’t get the stretcher bearing their friend in the front door. So what did they do?  They dismantled the roof to let their friend down into the very presence of Jesus, The Healer.

Wow!  What determination and persistence to help their friend.  The Scripture doesn’t tell us the reason the man was paralyzed, but obviously, he had been hijacked somewhere in his life.  A miracle happened that day as Jesus looked at the man, declared his sins were forgiven, and to get up, pick up his mat, and go home.  Verse 25 of Luke 5 says he went home glorifying God.  I like to envision he and his friends raced home, laughing and skipping and shouting to one another…”Did you see that??”

Those friends were “superhero” friends. Nothing was going to hinder them in their mission to get their friend the help he needed.  Do you have friends like that?  Friends who show up on your doorstep when your life has been hijacked?  I’m not talking about fair weather friends who ask how you are and then, regardless of what you say, keep on walking. I’m talking about “superhero” friends who give no thought to what it will cost in time, money or inconvenience. They will carry you if necessary.

Are you a “superhero” friend to those around you?  Are you willing to live an “interrupted life”?  If you are, you’ve experienced the joy that comes from being self-less in a world addicted to self-ish-ness.

I pray you have a few”superhero” friends in your life.  And if not, I pray The Father sends them to you at just the right time….