Scott Sullivan

Category: Reflections

  • Just Slow Down

    Just Slow Down

    Why are we in such a hurry? Tomorrow isn’t going anywhere. We risk getting speeding tickets so we can get somewhere five minutes quicker. If our schedule is so tight that we can’t fit five extra minutes in…we have made some poor decisions. 

    There is a fine line between taking it easy…and loafing…I lean toward the loaf. I was not bred to be a race car. I’m more like an old, beat-up truck that runs best in third gear. If you push it too hard, something might break. I’m not taking any chances. I don’t want to push this fine piece of machinery too hard. 

    We rush our meals. The chicken’s dead…it isn’t going anywhere…take your time. Some people eat with such speed and intensity that it makes you wonder if they have warrants out. Slow down! Do you know that if you slow down when you eat, some of those things on your plate actually have a taste? 

    I’m coming full circle with reading. As a first grader, I slowly learned to read. When I read aloud, it was slow. Somewhere along the way, we started believing that reading fast showed a higher level of intelligence. Over the last few years, I’ve been consciously trying to read more slowly. It’s amazing what it has done for my retention. 

    I’m going back and reading all of William Faulkner’s books…you have to read them slowly. It’s funny, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, but whoever I’m reading…I hear their voice in my head. Reading As I Lay Dying, I hear Faulkner in my head…and when I stop reading, I have to turn it off before I start talking to people in the voice of a Confederate general. 

    We read the Bible too fast. Again…what’s the rush? It’s the greatest book ever written…enjoy it. Let it sink in. 

    As a pastor, people will sometimes ask me, “How much of the Bible should I read each day?” My standard answer is, “Read until God stops you.” Read with an attitude of expectation…desiring to hear from God. And when He speaks…stop and let it sink in. 

    You cannot do that by speed-reading the Bible. 

    Each year I set Bible reading goals. Some years I read through the entire Bible. Some years I focus only on the New Testament. Regardless of how much you read…make sure you are reading slowly enough for God’s Word to settle into your heart and mind. 

    Psalm 46:10 reads, “Be still and know that I am God.” 

    Just slow down. 

  • You Are Never Alone

    You Are Never Alone

    In 1949, Hank Williams recorded one of the most haunting country songs ever written, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” The song is pure South Alabama poetry. Consider the second verse: “I’ve never seen a night so long as time goes crawling by. The moon just went behind the clouds to hide its face and cry.” Williams’ song has been recorded more than 200 times by artists ranging from Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis to Bob Dylan and Dean Martin. What makes the song so enduring? Why has it stood the test of time? Why do artists continue to record it today? Because everyone can identify with loneliness.

    We all have seasons when we feel like no one cares. Sometimes those feelings come because of life’s circumstances. Children grow up and move away. Death takes a spouse. Friends become few. While we all experience loneliness from time to time, some people live with it every day. Loneliness tucks them in at night…and is there to greet them in the morning.

    One of the strange things about loneliness is that it is possible to feel completely alone in a room full of people. I’ve been there. I know how it feels. Yes, there are other warm bodies around you, but no one seems to really know you or care what you’re carrying. Many people try to overcome the feeling of being alone by surrounding themselves with more people, only to discover that crowds cannot cure loneliness.

    If you have given your heart and life to Jesus Christ, you can never truthfully say that you are alone. Oh, you may experience the loneliness that comes from life’s circumstances…but in reality, you are never alone because the Holy Spirit resides within you. Following His resurrection, Jesus ascended back to the Father, but He told His disciples that He would not leave them alone. He would send the Comforter…the Holy Spirit.

    We read in John 14:16-17: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you.”

    Jesus wasn’t merely promising comfort during difficult days. He was promising His continual presence in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

    What encouragement! The Father WILL give the Spirit. The Spirit WILL be with you forever. He WILL remain with you, and He WILL be in you. Those are not hopeful possibilities. They are divine promises. Jesus did not say the Holy Spirit might come or could stay. He said He WILL. That means every believer has the constant, abiding presence of God, every moment of every day.

    Lonely saint of God…lift your head. The Holy Spirit resides within you. He is with you as you read these words. When you begin to feel loneliness creeping in, stop and remember the promise of Jesus. Stop and thank God for His gift of the Holy Spirit. Whatever you do today…whatever burden you carry…whatever valley you walk through…you do not walk alone. The Holy Spirit is with you…and He always will be.

    Scott Sullivan

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