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[Above: Editor Kaylena Radcliff]

What’s a curiously common Christian experience from when you were young?

If you’ve grown up surrounded by the faith, you’re sure to have at least one answer. Senior saints have often told me stories about camp revival meetings when they were kids, or how a bus drove around the community on Sunday mornings to round up all the town’s children and take them to Sunday school. Members of my generation might talk about growing up watching and learning from Veggie Tales, the Donut Man, or Psalty the Singing Songbook.

Some experiences cross those generational lines. For instance, whatever generation you belong to, it’s likely that someone, at some early point in your Christian journey, gave you a copy of a certain devotional: My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

I don’t remember who gave me my first copy or even when—it may have simply materialized when I rededicated my life to Christ at summer camp (another common Christian experience of my generation)—but I do remember reading it. I read it often—and to be frank—I don’t think I really got it. My first copy of My Utmost got forgotten and lost in the shuffle of adolescence.

Twenty-some years later, preparing for this issue, I received another copy of My Utmost. When I opened it this time, however, something clicked. The entries resonated, ringing with truth and a hope I didn’t even know I needed. And as I read on each day, slowly turning the words of that day’s reading over in my mind, I became curious about the man who wrote them. 

The man (and woman) behind My Utmost

Who was Oswald Chambers, after all? As David McCasland, Chambers’s biographer, shows in this issue (see pp. 31–32), his experience with the devotional was similar to my own. When he picked up My Utmost as a more seasoned Christian, dealing with difficult circumstances and spiritual uncertainties, Chambers’s words became “a major source of encouragement and guidance for living life in the Spirit.” 

His renewed interest in My Utmost also sparked a deep curiosity in the man behind it. McCasland uncovered the fascinating and untold story of Chambers, which you’ll read about in the following pages. A Scottish poet, artist, intellectual, and minister, Chambers possessed an approachable and sincere faith that allowed him to speak effectively to the spiritual challenges of the modern world. His unique abilities took him to the United States, Japan, and even to the Egyptian warfront of World War I. 

You’ll also discover an unsung hero: Oswald’s wife, Gertrude “Biddy” Chambers. Without her work, My Utmost for His Highest would never have existed. Gifted with unique abilities of her own—a talented stenographer, typist, administrator, and teacher—she preserved and presented her husband’s wisdom to audiences worldwide and launched the most beloved devotional of all time. 

My Utmost for today

The story of Oswald and Biddy Chambers is a dynamic one, full of adventure and romance; struggle and tragedy; new life and new hope. Indeed it is truly a story of two people who gave their utmost for his highest. As you read I hope you will come away with a new appreciation for that old devotional on your bookshelf, or perhaps bring home a new copy for fresh reflection. And maybe you’ll continue that curiously common Christian experience of giving My Utmost to that bright-eyed young believer in your life. 

She may not get it yet, but one day, it just might change her life. CH 

CH thanks Carol Holquist, Our Daily Bread Ministries, and the Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd., for their generous support in publishing this issue. CH also thanks the Wheaton College archive for the use of many of the images in this issue. 

By Kaylena Radcliff

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