When God Said "Shut Up!"

There are times when God wants us to shut up. Find out more.

It was 2020 and we were in the middle of lockdown. My office is in the grounds of my house as I was the only person who could still come to the office: under the restrictions, no member of staff could do so. 

I had taken the opportunity to have my kitchen pulled out and replaced. Builders were still allowed to work so it was quite convenient as the noise and mess was not disturbing staff, or clients who would normally visit. The builders had, initially, been very good and arrived when they said they would, but the further into the job we got, the more unreliable they became.

The Loud Voice

Having been let down yet one more time, when they had promised faithfully to arrive and had not and were not answering their phones, I was tamping mad. My own office is away from the main office, at the bottom of the garden, and I was talking out loud to myself and saying that I was going to give them a piece of my mind and they were not going to treat me like this again etc. I was really angry and about to ring one more time and leave a very strong message on their office answering phone. All of a sudden, as I am in ‘full rant’ I heard a voice say, very loudly, 'SHUT UP!'

I was stunned.  I didn’t realise anyone else was on the premises. There was no-one in my office and so I went outside to see where the voice had come from. There was no-one anywhere. I searched high and low, but nobody was there. Well, it certainly had its effect, and I was very quiet after that.

The Workman's Prayer

The following day, the main workman arrived on time and came into my office. By now, I was no longer angry, I was quite embarrassed really at how angry I had been the previous day.  Out of the blue he said, ‘I did it’. ‘Did what?’ I said. ‘I spoke to him, the Big Man!’ he said with a big smile on his face.

A Witnessing Opportunity

A week or two previously we had been talking about God. The workman had said that I was a pleasure to come to work for, compared to some of their customers and that was when I spoke to him about my faith and how it impacts my life. He was having some issues and I suggested that he pray about them. He had never prayed in his life and said he didn’t know how to do it. I told him just to get on his knees and talk to God in the same way that he would talk to a good friend who he respected. I said it was really that simple.

So, he had taken my advice and he had prayed. He was so pleased about it that he couldn’t wait to tell me. I was stunned. What if I had let my anger get the better of me and what if I had let fly with angry words down the phone. What example of Christian faith and the gifts of the Spirit would that have shown? I was mortified.

There was no question in my mind that it was God or one of His angels who had told me to 'Shut up'.  God knew the damage that my words could do and needed to stop me. This was a lesson I shall never forget!