James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. 12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” On Sunday we talked about having an unshakable faith. This type of faith will come through perseverance under trial. Actually in order to be mature and not lack anything we will have to persevere and not give up. So if you are under trial right now do not give up. You must continue to believe and do not doubt. As I was reading this morning some numbers caught my attention. Gen 46:2 “And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. 3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.” Without getting into the trials and tribulation of being slaves in Egypt we see this family start off with 70. Now skip ahead to the second year after Israel had come out of Egypt when the Lord told Moses to take a census by counting the men 20 years old or more. Not counting the Levites they were a great nation of 603,550 men. So as the promise to Jacob was kept, so to will be the promise to those who persevere under trial. We will receive the crown of life so do not give up! Most importantly do not doubt the word of God when you are being tested.