In the past, I’ve been given advice that when you feel like moving on from a job because of some difficulty or trial, it is important to think about what you might run towards, not just what you are running from. What are you running towards?

In the face of a difficult lesson from Jesus, a lesson that was very hard to understand and accept, Peter made an evaluation of what else he would run to. Surely this lesson was challenging and unsettling for him just as it was for others, but when he evaluated it, he reasoned that despite not understanding, or perhaps even liking, what Jesus was saying, he really had nowhere else to go.

All things considered, nothing else could measure up to what he had found in Jesus to be true and unassailable. Thus, a measure of mystery and difficulty in being with Jesus was better than the alternatives. In that moment, that was all the faith he needed in order to keep following after Jesus.

Try this twist to the typical pros/cons list. Make a mysteries/comforts list that evaluates what lies ahead of you with Jesus and what would be ahead of you with some other alternative. If you listed all of the comforts and mysteries of both situations, what would the outcome be?