Mrs. Oswald Chambers: The Woman Behind the World’s Bestselling Devotional by Michelle Ule ~ New Books to Love

Who is Really Responsible for the Devotional, My Utmost for His Highest?


 

Mrs. Oswald Chambers, nicknamed Biddy, dedicated her life to sharing Oswald Chambers’ teaching. In Mrs. Oswald Chambers: The Woman Behind the World’s Bestselling Devotional, Michelle Ule tells the story of Biddy’s dedication to the goal of sharing the message in My Utmost for His Highest to inspire people the world over. Biddy transcribed and compiled Oswald’s sermons into the beloved devotional after his death. Biddy learned shorthand in school, then as she “traveled with Oswald, prayed for him, and at every lecture sat in the back and took down everything he said word for word…she filled a trunk with her notebooks.”

 

In this biography, Michelle Ule doesn’t sugar-coat the Chambers’ life but shows Biddy and Oswald’s relationship as loving but truly secondary to following God. As with many who choose to follow God, putting God first didn’t create a life of “health and wealth” for the Chambers, but it did create an extremely meaningful life. When her husband died, Biddy grieved but as she spent time with God each morning, she also felt God speak to her with a “supernatural intimacy.” [bctt tweet=”Biddy Chambers also felt God speak to her with a “supernatural intimacy.” #mrsoswaldchambers” username=”debgruelleauth”]

 

Biddy wrote in her diary, “I felt as if God were there in Person by my side actually speaking the words to me, and instantly everything that had seemed to shut one into the immediate present, lifted … assurance came, dimly at first, of a work yet to be done for Him.” She believed that God provided her with the task of putting Oswald’s teaching into writing. “It is a joy to step out in complete dependence on God and to look forward to the new things he will open up.”

 

 

Many times, especially in American culture, we admire and praise the one who stands up front as a leader or the or the one whose name is on the cover of the book. I’m thankful that Ule chose to write a book about this unsung hero and follower of God, Biddy Chambers, who sat in the back and never had her name on a book.
Ule also shares her meticulous research in such a way that I got caught up in the remarkable story of Biddy’s life. I found the historic photos in the middle of the book fascinating as well.

 

 

I love reading about normal people who simply continue to take small steps to follow God’s leading and how they often become part of amazing stories. I wholeheartedly recommend Mrs. Oswald Chambers, especially now, on this 90th anniversary of the publication of My Utmost for His Highest.
Here’s to following God in whatever way He sets before us!

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