When the Mantle is too heavy and doesn’t seem to fit
The term ‘mantle’, as used in the Bible, describes an outer garment or cloak that we first hear of being worn by prophets in the Old Testament. Notably, Elijah is said to have had a mantle which he subsequently passed to Elisha, when instructed to do so by God. What the Bible actually says is that God instructed Elijah to ‘anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, to be prophet in your place’. And we are then told that Elijah passed by Elisha and ‘cast his cloak (mantle) upon him’. We use this same biblical language quite frequently today - when someone is appointed to a position or an office, we talk about them ‘assuming (or taking on) the mantle of leadership’.
I am indebted to Jonathan Cahn’s fascinating ‘Book of Mysteries’ for educating me that the word in Hebrew is ‘adaret’ and, although translated as cloak or mantle, its core meaning denotes something ‘large, big, great, wide, powerful, excellent, noble, mighty or glorious’ that a person is ‘called to’. In keeping with that underlying meaning, whenever a calling is conferred upon someone, the adaret usually feels at first to be too big, too heavy and ill-fitting. Why is that? Because it is always God’s deliberate intention for it to be so!
When the angel of the Lord spoke to Moses from a burning bush and gave him the assignment to lead the people of Israel out from slavery in Egypt, Moses believed himself to be ill equipped and objected strongly. So strong was his objection that he wouldn’t go forward without Aaron being appointed spokesperson - a decision he came to regret later. When the angel of the Lord then came to Gideon, at a point when Israel was being oppressed by the Midianites, and told him that God had heard their cry, he said to Gideon, ‘The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor’. Gideon did not believe himself to fit that description and, having objected, required several confirmations before agreeing to trust God’s judgment. When, centuries later, Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he said, ‘Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong…’
When God gives us something to do (and it doesn’t have to be a life’s vocation - it might be a project or commission intended for a shorter term) it is never meant to fit who we are at the time. It is meant to fit the person He intends us to become - the person He plans for us to grow into, as that calling or commission progresses to fulfilment. God is far-sighted in His judgments and His way with us is to administer doses of grace, in a prudent manner, to move us progressively towards the finished product. Like any good trainer of apprentices, His method is to give us useful tasks to do and then to help and cajole, encourage and stand alongside, as we learn the trade and acquire the necessary expertise. If we submit to that process and learn on the job, the results will have His mark of excellence. Furthermore, we will find by the end that we have grown into ‘the adaret’ and it is a good fit.