Tom Lennie reviews ‘Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God’, by David McCasland 

At our Issachar autumn online Gathering, held recently – I reminded those present of the glorious truth of the believer’s union with Christ, making reference to numerous biblical passages supporting this truth as well as to a plethora of influential church leaders over the centuries who recognised and lived in the reality of it.

Total surrender

Few people were more experientially familiar with the truth of union with Christ than Oswald Chambers, author of the daily devotional, My Utmost for His Highest. For over a century, this classic has been one of most popular of all devotionals, being the annual reading plan by countless individuals the world over.

The late American pastor and writer Charles Stanley said it formed part of his daily diet for decades, no book besides the Bible having had a more profound effect on his life. Authors like Joni Eareckson Tada, musicians such as Michael W. Smith, and even political figures like George W. Bush have all cited the book’s influence on their lives.

Overall, My Utmost for His Highest challenges and inspires believers to pursue a radical, continual dependence on God, stressing that a Christian's primary calling is a relationship with Christ Himself, from which all other service flows. Chambers emphasised the necessity of absolute and unconditional surrender to God, which, he said, must be a deliberate transaction of the will, not an emotional experience. The goal of this surrender, Chambers taught, is not just holiness as an end in itself, but an intimate, supernatural identification and oneness with Jesus Christ, where one's life is consumed with Him.

Early influences

But who was Oswald Chambers, and what were the factors that shaped his life and teaching? Abandoned to God offers a comprehensive, definitive biography of the man. It was carefully researched by David McCasland, who also wrote, in Pure Gold, a fine biography of Olympian champion turned missionary Eric Liddell (who, incidentally, had many similarities to fellow-Scotsman Chambers, each being singular in their devotion to Christ, while each also showing a healthy interest in the world about them, and both able to enjoy to the full the simple beauties of life).

He went through an intense period of spiritual dryness – what he termed his ‘dark night of the soul’, when he rarely if ever sensed God’s presence or heard His voice in four long years.

The book charts Chambers’ generally blissful boyhood in Perthshire and London, and his coming to faith in Christ in his teenage years. He felt led to study fine art at Edinburgh University, retaining a life-long deep interest in the arts (he also loved music and played the piano and organ) as well as psychology and politics. Later sensing a call to some form of ministry, he trained at the Gospel Training College in Dunoon, Argyllshire, but later went through an intense period of spiritual dryness – what he termed his ‘dark night of the soul’, when he rarely if ever sensed God’s presence or heard His voice in four long years.

A wider sphere

Victory eventually came following a ‘full surrender’, followed by a personal spiritual baptism in the Spirit. With it came a striking giftedness in teaching deep spiritual truths. Invitations to speak began coming thick and fast – from all over the United Kingdom, and repeatedly from America and even Japan.

In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham in London. This operated for four successful years, attracting over one hundred residential students, forty of whom were serving as missionaries by 1915 (24 abroad).

By this time, and despite having recently married, Chambers felt called to the war effort (WW I), and was accepted as a YMCA chaplain to Egypt, where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops, his rapport and influence among them drawing hundreds of hardened souls to his lectures and prayer meetings.

He suffered extreme pain for three days before seeking medical attention, refusing to take a hospital bed needed by wounded soldiers.

Tragically, it was in Egypt that Chambers died from a ruptured appendix at the tender age of 43. He suffered extreme pain for three days before seeking medical attention, refusing to take a hospital bed needed by wounded soldiers.

The Lord gives double

Such sacrifice in his final hours on earth was typical of this humble and devout man of God, who sought to emulate the spirit of Christ in everything. One friend testified that being “full of the Holy Ghost was the secret of his happy service. He was absolutely free from worry, living what he liked to call a ‘restlessly restful life’”.

Especially notable was Chambers’ nonchalant attitude towards money. He was constantly giving money away, even though he rarely had much to give. He gave to others in what seemed to even his close friends an attitude of apparent recklessness, firmly believing that Jesus’ call to ‘give to everyone that asks’ was to be taken quite literally, whether it was for money, a meal or a winter coat.

On one occasion a drunken man stopped him on the street and asked for money. Chambers listened to the man’s tale before replying, “I believe your story is all lies, but here is my last shilling.” After putting the coin into the man’s hand, Chambers noticed it was in fact half a crown, worth much more than a shilling. But it didn’t matter. “There you are,” he told him, ‘May the Lord bless you.” Chambers fully believed that “The Lord always gives double for all I give away”, a testimony born out of countless occurrences.

He gave to others in what seemed to even his close friends an attitude of apparent recklessness, firmly believing that Jesus’ call to ‘give to everyone that asks’ was to be taken quite literally.

Drawing closer

Interestingly, the book he is best known for – My Utmost for His Highest – was only published a decade after his death, being painstakingly compiled from his public talks and diary entries by his devoted wife, Biddy (of whom a more recent biographical account has also been penned).

Beautifully written, and including over 30 pages of Chambers’ well-constructed poems and 12 pages of photographs, ‘Abandoned to God’ makes a riveting and ‘unputdownable’ read - and will be of particular appeal to anyone longing to be drawn into closer personal relationship with their Lord and Saviour.
 

Oswald Chambers Quotes

•       “If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.”
•       “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”
•       “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”
•       “We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.”

‘Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God’ (351 pages) is published by Discovery House, and is available from Amazon (both new and used copies)