I often marvel at God’s hand on ICR’s ministry. We have experienced times of plenty and seasons of leanness. Through it all, ICR has remained sensitive to the Lord’s leading by pursuing new opportunities when appropriate while continuing to distribute free publications like Acts & Facts and Days of Praise. God has been faithful to supply our needs through His people, and those who financially partner with us will one day share in the eternal rewards of our work together (1 Corinthians 3:7-8).

God has been faithful to supply our needs through His people.

With God’s provision in mind, ICR has always had a strong commitment to use our resources wisely. We don’t go into debt or spend what we don’t have. Moreover, we have generally resisted the urge to develop larger, more expensive programs if new budgetary pressures might shift our focus away from our core ministry. Of course, larger gifts can make larger programs possible and are always welcome, but we know that such gifts are not possible for most and could even be unbiblical if given in the wrong spirit. Consider what Christ had to say about this in Luke 21:1-4:

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

The large gifts didn’t impress Jesus because the givers gave “out of their abundance” and still had plenty left over. But the widow’s two mites (worth about one fourth of a penny) so impressed Christ that He used it to illustrate the point that God measures a gift not by its size but by the motive with which it is given and the amount left un-given. In God’s eyes, the widow’s small gift was more valuable than all the other gifts combined because “she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” This stands as one of the greatest examples of sacrificial giving in all of Scripture.

Perhaps some have been reluctant to give “too small” a gift, believing it can’t do much for the Lord’s work. Nothing could be further from the truth! Perception can be a funny thing, particularly now as ICR seeks help raising the final $8 million to complete the ICR Discovery Center for Science and Earth History. I was recently reminded of this exact point by one of our supporters:

I did a little math this a.m., and if each one of [your readers] gave $16 the $8 million would be available. Many people believe a little wouldn’t help—they want to do a lot….[But] while God appreciates the $1,000 gifts, what He really wants is the continual, persistent, faith-devoted $0.25 a day. We often miss the joy of the $0.25 by wishing we had the $1,000 to give. I only mention it because…I wondered how much it would take to raise the $8 million if we all pitched in. Perhaps others have wondered too. — S. B.

I couldn’t have said it better. A sizeable majority of our readers have not yet partnered with us. Don’t “miss the joy” of giving to a worthy Christ-honoring cause like the ICR Discovery Center because you don’t believe your gift is large enough. Your help does make a difference, and many of those “mites” add up and can be used by God to do great things for His work!

* Mr. Morris is Director of Donor Relations at the Institute for Creation Research.