Inspired by joy

“Inspired with joy by the Holy Spirit, I prayed: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that although you have hidden these truths from the wise and discerning, you have made them known to the childlike” (Matt. 11:25 / Luke 10:21: Jesus, In His Own Words.)
 
There are several things about this scripture that are especially interesting. The first is joy that is inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is important to distinguish between joy and happiness. The latter is the excitement that results from something that happened while the former describes the welling up of a deep sense of satisfaction from within. Happiness is ephemeral, lasting only a short time, while joy is that continuing sense of wellbeing that depends on a relationship, not some passing event. The joy that Jesus mentions is a joy inspired by the Holy Spirit. In the long run all true spiritual joy stems from a relationship with God. In that we are made by and for him, we need a vital connection before the full joy of the Lord can be experienced.
         It is interesting that it is joy inspired by the Spirit that leads Jesus to pray. We tend to pray when we sense a need of some sort. In certain circumstances we say that we are “driven to prayer” while in Jesus’ case it appears that he was drawn to prayer. Prayer was the positive response to the One who is the source of all joy. Hopefully our prayers are not to move God to action but because we can’t help but praise him for who he is and what he has and is doing in our life.
         When we examine Jesus’ prayer we find it is an expression of praise for what God has done for those who love him. The passage identifies two kinds of people. One is made up of “the wise and discerning.” Wisdom and discernment is good, is it not? Yes, but here Jesus is using a bit of friendly satire. The “wise” are wise in their own eyes and discerning by the power of their own intellect. That kind of “wisdom” is phony. Mountains of information can be memorized and insights can be presented in flowery language, but the vocal artist hasn’t the faintest idea if it has the ring of truth. The other kind of person is the humble person who recognizes that he can never know enough to match the “intellectual accomplishments” of the more intellectual. God in his wisdom decided that man can’t arrive at the truth that really matters if he tries to do it on his own. You have to become like a child to learn that kind of truth. It comes from God as a revelation and is absolutely true. Childlike faith produces “born again” believers who humbly step aside and let God do what he wishes with their ability to get from point A to point B. The “wise and discerning” try to get there on their own, not realizing that truth has to be revealed. It appears their approach will take them no closer.