The Thirty Years War in Europe was one of the darkest periods of human history. It spanned an entire generation from 1618 until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. In addition to relentless war, it was a time of famine, economic depression and terrible epidemics. Tens of thousands of lives were lost.

To give you an idea of how bad it was, one pastor, a godly man named Martin Rinkart, conducted 5,000 funerals in one year for the people of his parish. He averaged about fourteen funerals per day. In 1636, in the midst of that misery, Martin Rinkert wrote a table grace that he taught to his young children that later became a Christian hymn. Listen to his heart:

Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
In whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in his grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.

Martin Rinkert trusted God and kept a joyful heart, even when “perplexed” by the ills in this world. And that trust is the secret to thankfulness.