The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections

2 Corinthians 5:7 "We walk by faith, not by sight" Chambers reminds us that there are seasons when God’s presence feels close and unmistakable. But those moments are not meant to carry us. They are not the standard of the Christian life. When God begins to use us, He often leads us into quieter, hidden places where we do the work He gives us without carrying a glow about us and continually feeling inspired. We are not meant to live as if heaven must stay open for us to move. Nor are we meant to wait for a feeling, a sign, or a fresh moment of inspiration from God before we obey. God calls us to live as ordinary men and women in an ordinary world — but with a strength that comes from being born from above. Chambers warns that when we try to recreate past moments with God, or insist that He speak to us again before we act, we reveal that we are depending on emotion, not faith. We become attached to the experience instead of attached to God Himself. Faith is different. Faith get...

  1 Corinthians 13:4   “Love suffers long and is kind…” Chambers teaches that true love is spontaneous — it appears in our actions without our noticing, because it comes from the Holy Spirit, not from our own effort. We cannot make ourselves loving by saying, “I will be patient,” or “I will be kind.” That kind of self‑management only produces strain. The love Scripture describes does not begin in us. It begins in God. It is His love “poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” ( Romans 5:5 ). But here is the part many of us miss: that love does not flow freely until the Holy Spirit has full authority within us. He indwells every believer, but He does not override the will. As long as we are still governing ourselves — trying, striving, managing — His love cannot rule our responses. We pray for patience, but keep our will. We ask for kindness, but hold on to control. And so we strain, because we are still the ones trying to produce what only God can give. Some believers exper...

My Testimony The testimony that follows is the story of how Christ met me in the middle of chaos, lifted a lifelong burden, and led me into a surrender I didn’t know I needed. These past months have reshaped my spiritual life in ways I could never have imagined, and I felt led to share it for anyone who may be walking through their own season of confusion, striving, or spiritual exhaustion.  This is not a story of my effort, but of Christ’s intervention, His timing, and His unmistakable work in the hidden places of my heart. I share it because someone else may be standing where I once stood, searching for peace in all the wrong places, not knowing that surrender is the doorway. He has strengthened me, given my life purpose, lifted burdens and anxiety from my life, and my days and nights are filled with His peace, for I rest in Him. He carries me now. I am safe. I am protected. I am at peace in Him. Because I know that I know, I am certain—He is closer to me than my next breath. •...

   1 John 3:2 "... it has not yet been revealed what we shall be ..." Chambers teaches that the spiritual life is not built on knowing what comes next. It is built on trusting God when we do not know. Our natural instinct is to plan, predict, and secure the future, but the life of faith does not work that way. We are certain of God, but we are not certain of the path He will take us on. This uncertainty is not a failure of faith. It is part of walking with Him. We cannot imagine how we will handle situations we have never faced, and we are not meant to. God gives grace for the moment we are in, not for the moments we try to project ahead. Chambers calls this gracious uncertainty —a posture that expects God to come, but does not assume how He will come. When we abandon ourselves to Him and do the task He has placed in front of us today, He fills our lives with His own surprises. The spiritual life is the life of a child: steady in trust, open to God, and free from the pressure...

  Jeremiah 45:5 "I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go" Reflection Chambers teaches that God gives us something far deeper than changed circumstances. He gives us an inner life that is held, steady, and secure in Him—no matter what our outward life looks like. Our responsibilities, pressures, and daily realities may stay the same, but the life God gives cannot be harmed by any of it. Surrender does not mean pretending to enjoy a hard outward life. God is not asking you to call hardship “good” or to settle for a life that feels heavy. You can long for change and pray for relief. That desire is not wrong. What God gives is the inner life you can live from while you walk through the outward life you have today. Your circumstances may not shift immediately, but your inner life becomes calm, held, and protected in Him. Think of Daniel in the lions' den. Consider John the Baptist, Paul, and Joseph in their imprisonments. Each endured real hard...

  Jeremiah 45:5 (KJV) “And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.” Baruch’s Lament and God’s Answer Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, was overwhelmed. He cried out: Jeremiah 45:3 (KJV) “Woe is me now! for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.” Baruch was not simply tired of writing. He was crushed by the weight of the message, the danger surrounding him, and the cost of obedience. He lived in a time when judgment was falling on the nation. Jeremiah was hunted. Baruch was hunted with him. God answered Baruch: Jeremiah 45:4 (KJV) “Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.” And then the Lord said: Jeremiah 45:5 (KJV) “Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not… but your life will I give ...

Genesis 22:2 "Take now your son ... and offer him ... as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."  Chambers' title for this devotional is The Supreme Climb . It begins with the verse from Genesis 22:2, "Take now your son..." The day before this climb, God spoke to Abraham and told him to take his only son, Isaac, go to the land of Moriah, and offer Isaac there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which God would later direct him to.  Abraham believed God told him to kill his son.  For years, I believed God told Abraham to kill his son. That is how the passage always read to me — but I never understood the why behind the command. Why tell Abraham to kill Isaac when God told Abraham — through Isaac he would become a great nation? And why tell him to sacrifice Isaac just to stop him from doing it? That was the confusion for me. I decided it was to test Abraham's faith or his love for God. But that is not the why either. Ab...

  2 Timothy 4:2 "Be ready in season and out of season" Readiness is not a mood . It is not a surge of inspiration. It is not the rare moment when everything in us feels aligned and spiritual. Scripture makes it clear that “the season” is not about time at all—it is about us. Paul is saying, Be ready whether you feel like it or not. If we only act when we feel inclined, most of us would never move. Spiritual maturity is not measured by how deeply we feel God’s presence, but by whether we remain faithful when we don’t. Chambers warns that one of the greatest traps for a Christian worker is becoming attached to our exceptional moments—those rare times when insight is sharp, energy is high, and obedience feels effortless. Those moments are gifts, not guarantees. They are not a standard we can demand from God or from ourselves. If we wait for inspiration before we obey, we become spiritually unreliable. If we make a god out of our best moments, we will miss the work God has place...

  Luke 10:20 "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you ..." Chambers reminds us that the greatest danger to the Christian worker is not worldliness or sin, but the desire for spiritual success. In our culture, success is measured by numbers — how many people attend, respond, or read. The higher the number, the more “effective” the work appears. But this is the world’s standard, not God’s. Scripture teaches that salvation and sanctification belong to God alone (Ephesians 2:8–9; Philippians 1:6). Our work is not to save souls, but to walk with those He has saved, helping them grow in Christ and yield their lives to Him. That is what Chambers’ writings have been doing in me — teaching me devotion, surrender, and a life hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3). Before beginning this blog, I was awakened but not yielded. I was saved, but striving. I was in my own way. Through this journey, I have been laying down my stubborn will and giving Christ His rightful place. I...

  1 Corinthians 3:9 “We are God’s fellow workers…” There is a quiet danger in the Christian life: the temptation to focus more on the work of God than on God Himself. It happens easily. We begin with good intentions, wanting to serve, wanting to help, wanting to be faithful — and before we realize it, the work becomes the center. We measure ourselves by what we accomplish. We feel pressure to produce. We carry burdens we were never meant to carry. But Scripture reminds us that we are God’s fellow workers — not the other way around. The work does not belong to us. The results do not depend on us. Our first responsibility is not the task, but the relationship. Our calling is to stay turned toward Him, to remain in steady fellowship with Him, and to let Him direct and empower everything we do. When we lose that focus, the weight of the work becomes too heavy. We grow tired, discouraged, and overwhelmed. But when our concentration is on God, the burden shifts. He carries the work. He...