The Lord praises the Father saying, “I give you praise Lord of Heaven and earth for you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned but have revealed them to these little ones” (Luke 10:21). He made this statement (of prayer) when the seventy-two returned from the mission He sent them and reported to Him their successes including the highlight, that demons obeyed them. The Lord quickly reminded them that Satan has already been defeated; that their main joy ought to be in the fact that their names are written in heaven.
What is Hidden?
What are “these things” that the Father has hidden from the “wise and learned” and revealed to the “little ones”? I have always been struck by the phrase “These things” as used by Jesus here. The reason is that He did not name the things that the Father has hidden; of course, they won’t be secret anymore if He did. He thanks the Father for hiding and revealing them.
Right there, we see that everyone’s faith is informed by the revelation accessed. Martyrs die for the faith in Christ because there is no other way to live. Another gives away several of their resources to charity because the value of life lies in self-giving, which is a perfect expression of gratitude for all gifts received from God. Another person presses deeper in prayer because “Deep is calling on deep” (Psalm 42:7), and, as St. Augustine expressed it, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
Revelation?
What is it, or I should say, what revelation empowers your walk with God? What revelation sustains your walk with God?
There must be something we know about God that we consider bigger, better, and more important than any other knowledge we could ever possess about anything else. Someone might ask, Why would God hide things from us? The Scriptures show us that God’s hiddenness is part of what makes Him God. And humans’ longing and searching are part of who we are. Discoveries, or gaining access to God, is the authentic source of meaning and the definition of success in life (See Deuteronomy 29:29; Proverbs 25:2). The reality of our walk with God is that what we know about God is all that He has revealed to us. We could read, comment, tinker, debate, research, and follow a movement about God, but the true knowing of God comes from divine revelation.
Divine Revelation
The divine revelation that we need in our walk with God has been entrusted to the Church in the form of Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Church through which these divine assets have been given. Can God work outside of these resources? Yes. But He usually routes us back to His one family, the Church. Recall the incident in the book of Acts(10). The Lord appeared to Cornelius, a gentile who knew little or nothing about Christ and the new Church. First, the angel of the Lord told Cornelius that his prayers and works of charity had been heard in heaven. Secondly, he was asked to invite and listen to Peter. In brief, all that Peter did was to bring Cornelius, his household, and cohort into full communion with the Body of Christ.
Every authentic revelation that has made us believers and empowered our conviction must, as a consequence, lead to the divine worship and joy of the Holy Spirit. To test what sustains your walk with God, check whether you have a deep joy of the Holy Spirit in your interactions(worship) with the Lord.
