Letting Go of Lack
November 23, 2025 – Ben Johnson
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV) – Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Where gratitude GROWS, joy and contentment FLOW.
Unexpressed gratitude communicates INGRATITUDE.
We cannot COMPLAIN our way into God’s will, but we can GRUMBLE our way out of it.
Lacking Nothing
1. Gratitude ends the CYCLE of lack; HUMILITY opens the door to blessing.
James 4:10 (NIV) – Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Teaching Text
Mark 5:25-34 (NLT) – A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.
Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. (Luke 8:46 NLT - But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”) Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
2. Gratitude elevates REALITY and enables new POSSIBILITIES.
3. Contentment is NOT found in getting MORE, but in realizing HE is more than ENOUGH.
4. Humility chooses SURRENDER over striving, and TRUST over trying.
One Final Thought
5. GRATITUDE begins where COMPARISON ends.
Life Group Discussion & Questions
BREAKING THE ICE: What’s one small “lack” or inconvenience you caught yourself focusing on this week and what’s one thing you could have been grateful for instead?
DIGGING IN: Read James 4:10 and Mark 5:25-34 together.
1. Where have you seen gratitude shift your perspective—not by changing your situation, but by changing your attitude?
2. The woman in Mark 5 faced a painful reality but took a step toward new possibilities. What step of faith or gratitude have you taken in a difficult season, and how did God meet you in it?
3. How does humility break the “cycle of lack”? Comparing leads to Complaining, Complaining leads to Criticism, and Criticism takes us back to Comparing. Remember, gratitude begins where comparison ends.
4. Where do you most often find yourself comparing?
5. Jesus stopped everything for a woman others overlooked. What does this teach us about the kind of humility, faith, and gratitude Jesus notices and honors?
BRINGING IT HOME: Gratitude isn’t about pretending everything is perfect, it’s choosing to trust that Jesus is enough even when life isn’t. It ends the cycle of lack and opens the door to His peace, joy, and provision. Where do you need to “let go of lack” this week? Share one area where you want to practice gratitude and humility, and pray together asking Jesus to help you see His goodness clearly and respond with faith, courage, and trust.