As a young man, he felt the call of God to the ministry.  He studied theology and began preaching.  He had a passion for teaching and so in 1910, shortly after his marriage to a young woman he met on a ship to America, the newly weds found a house and opened a school in London.  He taught and his wife took shorthand of his lectures.  She had been blessed with the ability to take shorthand at the amazing rate of 250 words per minute.

When World War I broke out, they sensed that God was calling them to serve their country some how.  And so he enlisted as a chaplain in the British military and was stationed in Egypt.  His wife and young daughter joined him there.

He continued his teaching in a small hut in the desert of Egypt and his wife continued to take his teachings down in shorthand.  The soldiers were skeptical at first but eventually, he earned the respect of the men.  His ministry would not have been recognized by the world as “successful.”  He had a meager attendance at most of his meetings.  But he inspired the men and he served God faithfully doing what he believed God had called him to do.

In 1917, he died in Egypt due to complications with a routine appendectomy and the soldiers gave him a full military service with all the honors.  He was laid to rest in the sands of Egypt.  His wife and child returned to London.

After settling in London, his wife began the laborious task of  transcribing her notes from the years of lectures and teaching.  Over time, family and friends began to ask to read some of the work.  Different lectures began to be pulled together into pamphlets and then later, the pamphlets were pulled together into a book.  Many books have followed, but one stands out.

The man was Oswald Chambers and his wife was Gertrude (or Biddy, as he called her) and the book – My Utmost for His Highest, published first in 1927.

What would have been seen at the time  by most to have been a simple, ordinary, uneventful ministry has been used by God to touch people all over the world and continues to do so today.  Thanks to Oswald’s faithfulness and Biddy’s hard work, the world has been moved.

What has God called you to do today?  It does not matter how mundane it may seem, if God has called you to the task, God will bless it.  God never calls us to be “successful” – simply faithful.

Be faithful today!