Support Personnel

The movie just ended and people are filing out of the theater. If you see someone walking backwards up the aisle reading the credits on the screen, that would be me.

I am an obsessive reader, especially when it comes to acknowledging the support team that produces a movie. A friend who knows the industry, once said if a person gets their name on the credits, that means they've worked long and hard to get there. Someone other than their parents should read the names of these diligent workers so I feel obligated.

Let's face it, support personnel often don't get the credit they deserve in most endeavors. That's why I'm fascinated by the story of an obscure woman named Biddy Chambers. Her real name is Gertrude Hobbs Chambers and she was the wife of the famous pastor/teacher/author, Oswald Chambers. He authored over 30 books, his most notable being My Utmost for His Highest. It is a devotional that has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and often is on the top ten titles of religious book best-seller lists. 

Biddy?

Why is this woman so interesting and how did she get that strange name? The name was his nickname for her, the daughter of a friend. Even before they married, he saw her as a partner in his ministry--one who could help him get his sermons and lessons into print. Why? Because she was a court stenographer who could write 250 words a minute in shorthand.

They served together in many posts but the last was in Cairo, Egypt, under the authority of the Y.M.C.A. He was sent there to provide a positive social life for Australian and New Zealand soldiers fighting in World War I. Basically, his job was to keep the men from visiting brothels.

He came under criticism from the Y.M.C.A. for giving away refreshments rather than charging the soldiers. When he cancelled the concerts and movies provided for their entertainment everyone told him he would lose his audience. The opposite occurred. Men flocked to his sermons--such was his personality and teaching and their need to learn about God before going into battle. And there sat Biddy, in the back of the room taking down every word her husband spoke.

How does Biddy fit into all this?

Sadly, Chambers died barely into his forties from a ruptured appendix. Though she was devastated, Biddy spent the rest of her life transcribing her notes of his lectures into publications. Today we have the classic My Utmost for His Highest because of the tedious work done by this humble woman, Biddy Chambers. She is so humble she signs her Foreword to the book, B.C. She doesn't even use her complete name.

What do I take away from her story?

• She lost the love of her life much too early but she channeled her grief into preserving his works, knowing how effective his words were in bringing people closer to God.
• She used her skills to keep his teachings alive and available to millions of readers throughout the years.
• She exhibited a spirit of humility. 

What Can We Learn?

• Life throws curve balls (like the early death of a loved one) and we can channel our energies to go beyond mere survival to service for God.

• If we know God, we must share him.

• We each have skills God can use to further his work on earth.

• God honors a humble heart. 

 If there were a blockbuster movie about Oswald Chambers, I believe Biddy Chambers' name would be emblazoned in gold lettering.

Let the Credits Roll! 

 

(Information from Introduction to My Utmost for His Highest, 1963 edition Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI & Online Wikiepedia)