Oceans, row boats and big sharks

I’m a land lubber. Never sailed, never rowed more than a lap around a (small) lake. But I recently read two books about water so now I’m kind of an expert.
“The Boys in the Boat” is the story of nine American rowers who won gold in the 1936 Olympics. It is a fascinating story of these young men. But the real fascination was the story of one of the men who grew up under extreme difficulties- death of a young mother, unkind stepmother, father without willingness to intercede. His story is worth the read. And this is a very well written book.
The second book is “Adrift” about a man (Steven Callahan) who lived alone in a rubber raft in the ocean for 76 days after his sailboat sank. He tells of overcoming tremendous adversity and the power of ingenuity and the human spirit.
Neither book was about following Christ or directly about issues of faith. And neither made me want to give up my land lubber ways. Sharks. Reason enough. But both reminded me of perseverance- and perseverance is directly connected to faith.
God wants us to learn to persevere when things are difficult. He wants us to learn to stick with hard but correct things. He urges us to overcome, stand strong and stay at it.
I want you to learn to persevere. I want you to do hard things. I want you to finish what you start and stay at it when it gets challenging. On land or sea, I want you to learn to persevere. It is a lesson worth learning.