Why Is The Angry Bird Angry?!

" A very bad wind came up on the lake. The waves were coming over the sides and into the boat, and it was almost full of water. Jesus was inside the boat sleeping with his head on a pillow. The followers went and woke him. They said, "Teacher, don't you care about us? We are going to drown!" Jesus stood up and gave a command to the wind and the water. He said, "Quiet! Be still" Then the wind stopped, and the lake became calm. He said to his followers, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" - Mark 4:37-40

So I went to check why this popular bird is called "angry bird" [very random]- cracked me up. Apparently in the story of angry birds, the pigs are stuck on a small island, and they are hungry and in need of something to eat and decide to eat some eggs that they find - the little caption I was reading in my research;  ends it with - "this made the birds angry' - Of course because the eggs belonged to the birds. These birds aren't just angry for nothing. Likewise human beings like you & I who get mad, angry, insecure, frustrated, sad, anxious and all that jazz. Behind these expressions are silent screams for help. Even when it becomes a default mode; there is something off behind all that wall of defense. Thing though is, no matter how confident people may seem manifesting these attributes, sadly they are still not entirely free.

One particular area I want to focus on this Monday, is how we let the things that people say and what they think of us get to us. Most people from the african descent may relate with this a lot better or any other culture where this is a thing. Like you could be minding your own business and somebody is asking you "when are you getting married?" or when you are having a child or even when you will buy your own house. Maybe not even the direct questions, if they were less audacious. It could come at you in form of premeditated snag comments that are nothing more but "nosey" disguising itself as "empathy". Some of these external pressures could also be the insecurities of those who project them. If it is a measure of success for them, then it is a measure of success that they project on others. But let's not rant too much about that, let's listen out for how Jesus responds to external pressures coming at him

"That the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change, but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent" - Chinese Proverb

Oh Jesus was so free. He was so free that he slept when the waves were coming over the sides and into the boat. He was on snooze control, he even got a pillow haha, love it. Why was He so confident? I know someone just said because "He was Jesus". Yes He was the son of God, but he was also in the form of man experiencing this. We won't break down our open verse into tiny bits and bobs, so that I can spare this from being a super long post. So let's focus on the last bit -"why are you afraid, do you still have no faith?"

Some of the things that get us mad, may not necessarily be crazy "windy storms" like the one Jesus and the disciples were in, but they could come at us in the form of some of the things I mentioned up above. Comparison, external pressures and the like. Truly they come to check our faith. Jesus was aligned concerning the will of God for his life. He was under no pressure to conform to the expectations of any surrounding factors. Jesus was free because He was intimately webbed with his Father.

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" - James 4:1-3

This scripture hit me in a really meaningful way this past week. Maybe you are not necessarily fighting anyone, but you are just angry because you are under a lot of pressure or comparing yourself with others. Some of us ask for things just to prove to others 'we also are getting blessed" but for those who love God, it isn't just about getting blessed, it is about purpose. It is about becoming more like Christ. Though the road to getting what we deeply desire may be tough often, we must trust the potter and rest like Jesus does in a storm & especially at the times when the waves are coming over the side and into the boat - I know easier said than done eh?! - but it is possible.

So don't get mad when external pressures come at you, re-focus and ask God to strengthen your faith!

Love

SR