When people think of Oswald Chambers, they usually think of the dozens of books that bear his name as the author. It may come as a surprise, then, to find out that Oswald Chambers only published a few books during his lifetime and never aspired to become the famous author he is now. His works and his name would probably have been forgotten apart from the work of his diligent and faithful wife Biddy, who carefully edited and published his sermons in book form after his death. The life of this humble lady is a story in itself.
Gertrude (later nicknamed “Biddy” by her husband) was born in 1884. Bouts of illness often kept her confined at home, but she used her extra time to become proficient at shorthand. Her father’s death close to her fifteenth birthday created much financial hardship for the family. After Biddy finished school, she continued to live at home and helped support her family through her skill in shorthand.
In 1908, Biddy met Oswald Chambers and in 1910, they were married. Oswald started a small Bible college shortly thereafter, and Biddy proved to be the perfect helpmeet for the task. The entire college became her home and she cheerfully and hospitably cared for the students and a constant stream of visitors. She took careful shorthand notes of her husband’s lectures and served as his secretary. The birth of her daughter in 1913 only added the joy of a busy household.
A major change for the family occurred in 1915 when, with World War I in full swing, Oswald sensed God’s direction to go and minister to soldiers in Egypt. The Bible college was closed, and Oswald, Biddy, and their little daughter Kathleen started pouring their lives into a new ministry. Biddy continued her diligent lifestyle of hospitality, often serving groups of hundreds of soldiers. Somehow, in the midst of so much work, she found time to record her husband’s sermons in shorthand, carefully preserving them for the future. Little did she know that this would form the basis of her future life work.
After just two years in Egypt, Oswald died suddenly of complications from appendicitis, leaving Biddy a widow. Still in her thirties, she suddenly found herself alone, unsure of what to do next. Just a few months later, however, a friend showed her a folder of her husband’s sermons and suggested she have them printed as leaflets. When the first one was eagerly received and requests poured in for more, Biddy realized that she had discovered a way to continue her husband’s work. She possessed an enormous quantity of her own shorthand transcriptions of Oswald’s sermons and lectures. After returning to England, she poured her heart and soul into what she called “the work of the books”.
Over the next few decades until her death in 1966, she trusted God to provide for her while she diligently edited and compiled her husband’s sermons into book form. All profits she received from the sale of books were used to print more books. In spite of the work she put into publishing her husband’s words, she never put her name to any of them. She was content to be a servant, not desiring to be noticed for her work. All fifty of the books she compiled bear her husband’s name, not her own. The most well-known of them – My Utmost for His Highest – is read by people around the world every day. Millions of people have been blessed through the humble work of this one woman.
“We are not called to be successful in accordance with ordinary standards, but in accordance with a corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying, becoming in that way what it never could be if it were to abide alone.” -Oswald Chambers
Recommended reading:
Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God – The Life Story of the Author of My Utmost for His Highest
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