Andrew Murray, Oswald Chambers, and the Authors Behind Their Writings by Chris White

Andrew Murray

Although it’s been 78 years since its initial release, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers remains in the top-ten bestseller list of Christian devotional books.  Add this to the legion of fans who follow the dedicated Facebook page, You Tube features and other social media that are all based on this book, and you get a small picture of the total impact of this book on the spiritual lives of millions.  What is surprising to most people is that while Oswald Chambers is certainly the mind behind the book (if we don’t account for the Holy Spirit’s influence), he never wrote a page of it.  Oswald was a gifted preacher and teacher and known for his great spiritual insights from the Bible.  During World War I he sensed the call of the Holy Spirit and the call of duty to become a YMCA chaplain to his fellow British soldiers stationed in Cairo Egypt.  Although his efforts were scoffed at by the military establishment when he started, his ministry gained a lot of traction with the soldiers and eventually the respect of the local command.  Unfortunately, Oswald Chambers died suddenly at age 43 while in Cairo because of complications related to an emergency appendectomy.  During his lifetime he did have a few books in print but Utmost was published by his wife 18 years after his death.  In God’s providence,    What is really remarkable was that Biddy was so fast she could record nearly 250 words per minute which is 100 more than most people can speak in that space of time.  Chamber’s wife was able to record for posterity most of her husband’s sermons which in turn was the wealth of material she was able to mine to produce this beloved devotional.  Biddy lived until 1966 when their only daughter Kathleen took over Oswald Chambers publishing until her death in 1997.  Both women blessed the body of Christ throughout the world with their labor of love.  Utmost for His Highest is available in print and electronic versions in 39 languages today.

Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers married Gertrude “Biddy” Hobbs who just happened to be a shorthand stenographer.

Another author we might never have known today except for the efforts of his wife was Andrew Murray.  Murray has 240 published works most of which are still in print today.  Probably the most beloved of his works are Abide in Christ, Absolute Surrender, and Humility all of which have become devotional classics.  Like Oswald Chambers, Andrew Murray was known as a great preacher and teacher and although he lived and ministered in South Africa during the 19^th century (which was hardly the center of human civilization at the time), he was in demand as a platform speaker in Britain and America as well.  His huge parish and daunting responsibilities conspired to keep him exhausted and often feeling underprepared to preach which he did often several times a day.  Unlike Oswald Chambers, Murray did live a long life (86 years) and did actually write some of his material, but it was at the insistence of his cultured and highly literate bride Emma that Andrew Murray began his writing career.  What’s more, you might say it was a little sibling rivalry that got this dimension of ministry started.  Andrew had an older brother John who was also a preacher and teacher (he and Andrew went to seminary together).  John had written several books and they were becoming quite popular and selling well.  When Emma saw this, she insisted her husband write for she considered him to be far more insightful (if not intelligent) than his older brother.  Andrew had been weakened from nervous exhaustion in the early years of his ministry and found it difficult to write (all books were in long-hand at the time) and so his wife Emma would help him with the writing and served as an editor and literary consultant of sorts.  Without the help and encouragement of his wife, most of us today would probably have never heard of Andrew Murray much less have been enriched by his devotional books.  Through the efforts of Biddy Chambers and Emma Murray, if I might paraphrase Hebrews 11:4, “though dead, by faith their husbands still speak today” and do so with great spiritual clarity.