In 1915, Oswald Chambers, aged 41, arrived in Egypt to serve as a YMCA chaplain to British Commonwealth troops during World War I. He was assigned to a camp six miles north of Cairo. On his first night there, Chambers wrote in his diary, “This [area] is absolutely desert in the very heart of the troops, and a [great] opportunity for men. It is . . . unlike anything I have been used to, and I am watching with interest the new things God will do.”

Chambers believed and practised the words of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6 nkjv).

This is both a comfort and a challenge. There is security in knowing that the Lord will lead us each day, but we must not become so attached to our own plans that we resist God’s direction or His timing.

“We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have [inflexible ideas] as to what God is fitting us for,” said Chambers. “God engineers everything.” Wherever He puts us, our one great aim is to serve Him with everything we’ve got.

Author

David C. McCasland

Topics

Our Daily Bread