Episode 67 :: Simply Advent with Katie Covert :: The Light that Reveals God's Faithfulness in the Mess
Merry Christmas Eve, friends! Today, one of my dearest friends in the whole world, Katie Covert and I invite you to open your eyes and hearts to a fresh perspective into the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and all the incredible events surrounding Jesus’ birth. We are women who value a God of the details, and Katie shares powerful and beautiful insight into the history, as well as just humanizes the story of Jesus’ arrival. This was, from all human perspectives, a mess made for Lifetime. Unplanned teenage pregnancy, talk of divorce, risk of the death penalty, a murder plot and more. But some of the messiest pieces of this narrative are the parts that mark the fulfillment of God’s promises. Prophecy after prophecy is fulfilled in bursting technicolor, but like much with the Lord, hearing about the activity of God, and living in the thick of it are two completely different things.
And if that’s not a picture of how to approach the end of this insane year, I don’t know what is. We are a people in desperate need of faith like Mary’s: unreasonable, audacious, and completely trusting that the God of the universe will keep His Word, and how it plays out in the middle is worth it in the end. But it is also OK that many of us (Katie and I included) to be in spaces of “if this is how God’s faithfulness feels, if being favored puts me in a situation that could get me killed, how do we hold on to our faith that He will be good and trustworthy no matter how it plays out?”
Life is messy, that’s not fatalistic, it's just true. The world is broken, and Jesus was born into a messy slice of broken. But God’s faithfulness, His kindness, His provision and His very presence was magnified the deeper they pressed into the mess. God is large enough to oversee the supremacy of time and prophecy fulfilled and small enough to care about the minute details of long broken hearts and barren wombs. This story carries His magnitude and His intentionality. What a word of hope to a weary world.
Slight sidebar, we also make a case for the first person to have a filling of the Holy Spirit and speaking from its source in the New Testament being a woman. Which is fascinating. Women carried and proclaimed His presence into the world, and then declared His risen return. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
After this year, none of us are the same, but that doesn’t mean that God has changed, and there is so much more for us to see so that we can trust Him more. Merry Christmas, friend. You matter. Your story matters.
*Our Advent series intro music is by Chris & Stephanie Teauge of Out of the Dust. We’re so grateful for their generosity in allowing us to share their song “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” Listen on Spotify to the rest of this song and the remainder of their Christmas EP here.
*Outro music is from audionautix.com
Connect with Katie::
LW Instagram
Armor Up, Warrior Princess
AUWP Instagram
References:
“God means what He says even when it feels like bad news.”- Beth Moore
Giddy Up, Eunice- Sophie Hudson
Family arrangement for marriage / Jewish betrothal and contract
Divorce during betrothal would have implied adultery = stoning
Kataluma - potentially a guestroom with the animals, or a cave under a house
Swaddling clothes for lambs // Tower of the Flock and Here
Say Something- Lorelai watching herself on “Gilmore Girls”
“Is He Worthy”- Andrew Peterson
Tony Evans quote “faith is acting like God is telling the Truth”
Beth Moore talk at the Passion Conference on risking it all for the Gospel
God, say something! (Love Andrew Peterson’s song “Deliver Us” to echo this)
Scripture References:
Judges 6:36-40- Put out a fleece for the Lord
Luke 2:19 // Luke 2:51- But Mary treasured up all these things
Isaiah 7:14- Prophecy:: a virgin would give birth to a Savior
Psalm 132: 11 / 2 Samuel 7:12-16 / 1 Chronicles 17:13- Prophecy :: He would be descendant of David
Isaiah 40:3-5 / Malachi 3:1 - Prophecy :: That there would be a forerunner
Isaiah 9:1-7 / Luke 1:26-36 / Luke 1:47-55- Prophecy :: That He would be called the Son of God
Micah 5:2- Prophecy :: That it would all happen in Bethlehem
Luke 1:26-38- The angel’s conversation with Mary
Luke 1:34-38-Mary’s response
Luke 1:5-25- Zechariah’s encounter with an angel
Judges 6- Gideon
Joshua 3:1-5:12- Going into the Promised Land
Luke 1:37 - “The word of God will never fail”
Joshua 21:45 / Jeremiah 1:12 / Lamentations 2:17 - God keeps His promises
Luke 1:26-66 - Elizabeth and Mary
Luke 1:7- Elizabeth had been barren
Psalm 16:6- The boundary stones have fallen for me in pleasant places
Colossians 3:15- Let peace hold you together
Exodus 20:21- The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the darkness
Matthew 2:1-12-The wise men come
Matthew 2:13-18- Joseph’s response to the angel and going to Egypt
Matthew 2:19-23- Joseph’s response to the angel and leaving Egypt
Philippians 1:6- God will complete the work He began
Genesis 29: Leah and Rachel
Genesis 35- Where Rachel dies, at Tower of Migdal Eder
Micah 4:8- “As for you, watchtower of the flock, stronghold of Daughter Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.”
Matthew 1- Lineage of Jacob, Rachel, Boaz, Ruth and David
Luke 2:12- Jesus was a spotless lamb, laying in a manger
Luke 2:8-20-The shepherds in the fields the angels appeared to
John 10:11-18 / Psalm 23 - The Good Shepherd
Isaiah 61:1-3-For His glory and our good
Matthew 1- The way His lineage of generations went back in certain numerical portions
1 John 4:9-He sent His Son
Psalm 27:13-14-What would have become of me had I not believed
Romans 8:22- The groaning and the longing is part of the birth
Psalm 130:6- More than watchmen wait for the morning
Luke 2:22-38- Anna and Simeon
Ruth and Boaz (here’s an episode where we share more about them!)
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