God Told Me to Shut Up

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God Told Me to Shut Up (youtube.com)

Some of you might know that my favorite song of all time is "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon. The lyrics paint a picture of a girl and boy dancing. But the boy is overcomplicating things and keeps asking questions and talking. So finally, the girl gets irritated with him and tells him to: "Shut up and dance with me." The imagery of the song always cracked me up... until God told ME to shut up.

My church had a high school camp at the end of this past July 2024. I was really excited for it, because it would be my first camp... and my last because I am a senior. But I certainly did not expect God to make up for all the camps I had missed in the past and teach me several lessons. There were many things I learned at that camp, but they all stemmed from one problem. I wouldn't shut up.

For those who know me more personally, I am a chatterbox. You get me talking and I promise I will chatter your ears off. Well, I was really struggling with this one question at camp, and I wanted an answer right then and there. Whenever I would talk to God about it, I was looking for either a yes or a no.

As the week progressed, I got increasingly frustrated because I wasn't getting an answer. Or at least I thought I wasn't. Then one afternoon, I was climbing the steps up to the chapel feeling exhausted. I had a rough summer both mentally and physically, so by this time, I was just done. I had nothing else to say. Well, it turns out God was telling me to shut up the entire time. I was just talking too loud over Him. Because He sure did answer me now. And that's when I realized that I was the boy in the song Shut Up and Dance. I kept telling God that I wanted an answer, just like the boy in the song who wanted all the answers from the girl... but I was missing God telling me to shut up and trust Him.

For a fraction of a moment, I wondered why I hadn't heard what God's answer had been. But then I realized, it was because it wasn't the answer I wanted. His answer to me wasn't a yes. It wasn't a no. It was a not right now. Some people might define this answer as a no at least for now, but I personally think that is NOT what God's answer was and it would be a mistake for me to think that it is. God is so great and almighty; He and His will cannot fit into any language. He is bigger than just a yes or a no. And this was His answer to me: "You don't need to know the answer right now. All you need to do is trust that I know what is best for you."

Is there something in your life that you are overtalking God about?

I know that when I talk to God, I've noticed that I spend the entire time blabbing about how I feel, what I want, my concerns, etc. Even in my head! Until that day at camp, I had never tried to just be quiet, not letting anything into my mind, and just listening for God. God is alive and well, and He speaks to us through His word. If we read His word and are silent, He will speak to us in incredible ways.

I was mulling over my habit of overtalking God and realized that this also applied to how I shared the gospel. I began to think how many conversations I had sharing the gospel that could have gone so much better if I would have let God take the lead and speak through me instead of trying to talk louder than Him.

How many more Bible verses would have come to my head, prayers that would have been met, and lives touched by Jesus if I had only listened? I can think of more times than I can count that God wanted me to share the gospel with someone or do something so simple as ask them if there was some way I could pray for them... and I didn't. Why? Because I talked so much, I convinced myself of this and that, preventing God from using me. I never want that to happen to me again.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is be quiet. I ask God for His opinion all the time, but then I don't actually take the time to listen to what He says. What is the point of talking to Him at all, if I don't pray His will be done and listen when He speaks? I hope as I keep growing in Christ and sharing the gospel, He will find less and less that He has to tell me to shut up. I don't want to waste any time that I could be doing God's work. Why? Because I want to change the world.

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