Hannah Davidsmeier is seventeen years old, and this is her eleventh and final year competing in the National Bible Bee. Through the years she has grown in her knowledge of God. She lives on a farm in Illinois with her parents and eight siblings, and she “truly cannot thank my parents enough for signing me up every year”.
“My absolute favorite part of the National Bible Bee is the fellowship. After months of studying the same portion of Scripture together, and for some of us, years, hundreds of young people from across the nation gather together to compete. In all honesty, most of us aren’t very concerned about the competition part, more we are delighted to be able to worship our Savior together with so many others! There have been so many times throughout my experience at the National Bible Bee that the Lord has blessed me with unexpected joyful fellowship with other young people, coming together just to pray and thank Christ for all that He had been doing in us and through us. Many times, also, I would begin a conversation with a National Bible Bee friend and find that the Lord had been teaching them the same things as He had me, through the Scriptures we had both been investing all our time in! I would definitely say that the best part of the National Bible Bee is worshiping Christ, and worshiping Him along with so many other believers!”
“The most important thing I have learned is probably this: all of Scripture points to Christ. When I was younger, and before I did the National Bible Bee, I thought of the Bible as a sort of interesting story book written for my entertainment. Once I was a little older, I thought of it more like a recipe book containing all the things necessary for living a happy life, or maybe as a collection of stories about the most godly men and women. Yet after years and years of being immersed in the living and powerful word of God, I came to the realization that none of those things are the ultimate end of the Bible. I came to see that the Scriptures are, first and foremost, an autobiography about Jesus Christ, written by Him, through Him, and for Him alone.The National Bible Bee showed me through so many seasons of studying and memorizing His word that the Bible is all about Christ. When I began to see it this way, it was so much more of a joy to study the Scriptures! The final goal becomes only this one thing: to count all else loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, and for the joy of fellowship with Him. That is the most important lesson I have learned through the National Bible Bee.”
After studying so hard for so many weeks, many contestants can be disappointed with their results. “As far as handling disappointment goes, I think the greatest comfort is just trusting God and His sovereign will in my life. So often I tend to think that I know what I am doing, even to the point that I think I can control my life. That is not true though, for “it is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure”. Disappointment is often times the Lord’s way of reminding us that HE is in control, and EVERYTHING we do is not to be for our own glory but for His. I have been disappointed and dissatisfied with my score many times throughout the National Bible Bee Competition. However, I can confidently say that each time I came to the realization that God is in control, He already knew all the things that would happen, and He will bring glory to HIS name through it. So every time that something does not turn out the way I want, I know that I still trust in the sovereign Lord who knows all things, who’s ways are much higher than mine!”
One of Hannah’s favorite National Bible Bee memories was “one time when I was a Junior we were waiting in the hallway to go on stage. Someone came up with the idea that we should sing! Soon enough all sixty of us, all the way down the line, were singing all the hymns we could think of. We sang hymn after hymn, some of us doing harmony. We even sang some Christmas songs too.”
“To someone considering participating I would say this: Go ahead and sign up! The purpose of the National Bible Bee is to know God’s word and to make Him known, and the National Bible Bee summer study does a wonderful job teaching this! Each year I come away with even more knowledge of the word of Christ, and in turn this knowledge cultivates a desire to proclaim His gospel! The National Bible Bee has helped me immensely in sharing the gospel with people, simply by making me more aware of what the Bible actually says! Once you learn Scripture, the Lord will always bring it to your mind just when you need it most.”
Composed by NBB Alumna: Abigail Charleston
