IN THE MARGINS: Grateful in a world that shouts ‘not enough’

By Tony Martin
Editor

Thanksgiving is supposed to be the season when gratitude comes naturally, right? The calendar says, “Be thankful,” the table is full, the family is (mostly) getting along, and we bow our heads to say grace.

And yet… sometimes our hearts feel strangely empty.

We know, as Christians, that we are abundantly blessed. We can list the blessings: salvation, forgiveness, family, friends, a roof over our heads, more conveniences than any other generation in history. But if we’re honest, there are days when gratitude feels like work. It doesn’t always flow.

Why is that?

I think a big part of the answer is this: even as followers of Jesus, we often look at life through the lens of scarcity.

The Scarcity Story We Keep Telling Ourselves

Scarcity says, There’s never enough.

Never enough money.
Never enough time.
Never enough energy, appreciation, progress, clarity, spiritual “feeling,” you name it.

You might recognize some of these thoughts:

• “If I just made a little more, then I’d feel secure.”
• “If God would just answer this one prayer, then I’d be content.”
• “If I were more spiritual, I wouldn’t struggle like this.”

Scarcity turns life into a constant measuring game. We compare our real lives to some imaginary “ideal” version and, surprise, we always come up short. Gratitude has a hard time growing in that kind of soil.

On top of that, we’re marinating in messages that tell us, all day long, that we are lacking. Ads, social media, news, even well-meaning conversations can whisper, “You’re behind. You’re missing out. Others are doing better.”

No wonder our hearts feel tired.

Even God’s People Struggle With This

Before we beat ourselves up, let’s remember we’re not the first to wrestle with this. God’s people have a long history of struggling to trust His abundance.

Think about Israel in the wilderness. God has just freed them from slavery in Egypt with incredible miracles, walked them through the Red Sea, and was literally feeding them every morning with bread from heaven.

And yet their refrain was familiar: “We don’t have enough. This isn’t good enough. We want more. We want something else.”

Sound familiar?

They had visible signs of God’s provision and still slipped back into the scarcity story. So if we wrestle too, it doesn’t mean we’re terrible Christians. It means we’re human. But it also means we need to be intentional about how we see the world.

God’s Story Is One of Abundance

Scarcity says, “There isn’t enough.”
God says, “I am enough.”

Scripture is full of promises that push back against the lie of scarcity:

• “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)
   That doesn’t mean I get everything I wish for. It means I won’t lack anything God knows I need.
• “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
• Jesus reminds us not to worry about what we will eat, drink, or wear because our Father already knows what we need and cares for us more than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field (Matthew 6:25–34).
• “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

In Christ, God has already given us His very best. If He didn’t hold back His Son, He isn’t about to abandon us in the details.

Gratitude grows when we shift from, “Will there be enough?” to, “I belong to a God who is enough.”

So Why Is Gratitude Still Hard?

Because gratitude isn’t just a reaction; it’s a choice.

Sometimes our circumstances are genuinely painful. There are empty chairs at the table. There are diagnoses, disappointments, and quiet hurts we don’t talk about much. God never asks us to pretend those don’t hurt.

But He does invite us to anchor ourselves in a deeper reality than our pain.

Gratitude isn’t denial. It’s direction. It decides where we point our hearts.

• Instead of staring only at what’s missing, we deliberately notice what’s present.
• Instead of obsessing over what we can’t control, we thank God for what He has already done.
• Instead of waiting to feel grateful, we begin to act grateful — and often the feelings follow.

Practicing Gratitude in a Scarcity World

Here are a few simple ways to push back against scarcity and step into God’s abundance:

1. Name the scarcity sentence.
   Pay attention to the “never enough” phrases running through your mind. Write one down:
   “I never have enough ______.”
   Just seeing it in black and white can help you recognize it for what it is — a story, not the final truth.
2. Answer it with a promise.
   Find one verse that speaks to that area. If it’s money, look at Philippians 4:19. If it’s fear of the future, try Matthew 6 or Romans 8:32. Talk back to the scarcity sentence with God’s Word.
3. Thank God for past faithfulness.
   Look back over the last year. Where did God show up? Where did He provide, comfort, guide, or surprise you? Gratitude grows when we remember.
4. Practice “small thanks.”
   Don’t wait for the big breakthroughs. Start with hot coffee, a text from a friend, the sound of laughter, the fact that you woke up breathing this morning. Every small thanks is a brick in the wall of a grateful heart.
5. Pray, “Lord, help me see abundance.”
   This isn’t something we muscle our way into. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the ways God is already at work, already providing, already loving you.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

As you read this — maybe near a table full of food, maybe in a quieter place — here’s a simple prayer you can make your own:

Father, thank You that in Christ I am not living in scarcity.
I confess that I often feel like I don’t have enough, or that I’m not enough.
Today, help me trade that lie for Your truth.
Open my eyes to Your provision, past and present.
Teach me to see my life through Your abundance, not my fear.
Even where things are hard, I choose to thank You that You are with me,
You are for me, and You will not fail to meet my real needs.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

This Thanksgiving, we don’t have to pretend everything is perfect. We simply get to remember that our Shepherd is good, our Father is generous, and our Savior is enough.

And that’s more than enough reason to be grateful.