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New? February 22 Devotional

by David Joynt on February 22, 2025


1 PETER 4:19 | 19 Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

 

Here in this final verse we have a theology of endurance. To suffer “according to God’s will” is to do so for his righteous cause, remembering that suffering is temporary and transformative, and it leads toward a victory over evil, and honors for the faithful at the Judgement. These perspectives enable an active endurance.

 

Rather than simply sit and suffer, Peter calls his friends to trust their faithful Creator to the extent that they continue to “do good.” When those who are mistreated do not allow it to create bitterness, but continue to show the fruits of the spirit, blessing others with care and compassion, it is already a victory for God’s love and goodness.

 

Is your endurance active?

 

 

Gracious God,

When I suffer help me rise above self-pity and resentment. Help me continue to do good.

Amen.

 

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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