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!

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I looked back in the posts and unless I missed something, the last time I mentioned the book of Romans was a little less than a month ago (March 11).  As I said there, I had been camped in the 12th chapter for a month.  Well, now it has been almost two months and I am still in Romans 12.  It is an amazing book and chapter 12 is an amazing chapter!  I still hold it to be the Christian Manifesto.

Today, I have been challenged deep within my being by verse 12 of chapter 12.  The verse is short but comprehensive.  It says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”  That’s it – that’s the whole verse.  But what power in those words.

Paul tells us that our hope should bring us joy.  When we find ourselves in troublesome situations, we need only remember the bigger picture – that the God of the universe is in control – and that gives us hope.  As long as we have that hope, we can have joy, even in times of difficulty.

He goes on to say that we should be patient in the midst of affliction.  Paul gives it to us straight – there will be trouble.  Just because I made a commitment to be a follower of Jesus did not mean that I would no longer have to deal with pain, heartache and difficulty.  Paul does not want us to be naive about the fact that we will encounter hardships.  But he tells us to be patient – remembering the hope joyfully.

And then he gives us the answer as to how we do this – to be “faithful in prayer.”  It is in and through prayer that our relationship with the Father is grown and deepened.  It is in and through this relationship that trust develops and as we trust, our hope begins to grow and with that hope – joy.

If you find yourself in difficulty today, pray and as you pray, remember that the God who created you is listening – God is in control and has a plan.

You can take comfort and hope in that fact!

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