Not My Wisdom, But His Work: A Testimony

Written by: Hannah Richardson

I don't have any grand wisdom to pass on. I'm still new to this, still learning what it means to walk with God. But the most profound thing I could ever share with you isn't something I've learned, it's what He's done in my life.

I was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand a beautiful country, and a largely atheist one. We didn't have many churches, and most people around me leaned anti-religious. Growing up there, you learn fast that life is short, so you chase whatever gives it meaning: money, parties, status, career. For me, it was academics and basketball. At 15, they were my entire worth.

In my third year of high school, I was underperforming academically and barely played for my team. My brain treated it like the end of the world. If life had no deeper meaning, if we're just physical beings making sense of a random world, then the things I clung to for meaning would become everything. I spent my teenage years quietly depressed, some days unable to find a reason to get out of bed.

Then I read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. It showed me that even in the worst suffering, meaning could be found in love and relationships, that in the concentration camps, the people who gave away their food outlived the ones who fought only to survive. That cracked something open in me. I got curious about books like that. Eventually, about the Bible.

In 2022, at my grandparents' house, I found a Bible hidden on a shelf. I took it, not the most ethical move, and started reading. I landed on Ecclesiastes and found, of all places in the Bible, someone as confused about the meaning of life as I was. I couldn't tell you why I kept reading, but I did.

That year, everything kept collapsing. Burnout in basketball. Slipping grades. My friends had certain futures at university; all I had was an unfounded belief that I'd somehow end up in America. My dad wanted me working, not training. My teachers told me to be realistic. My friends didn't understand why I trained so hard for a sport that seemed to be going nowhere.

Then, in December 2022, out of nowhere, an offer to play basketball at a prep school in America, for my twin sister Zoe and me. No film, no connections, not even a spot at the national selection camp. It felt like a miracle right as my life at home was falling apart.

A month later, on a family bike ride, my mum fell and hit her head, knocking herself unconscious. For the first time, I felt real fear of losing someone who meant everything to me. While she was in the hospital, I got on my knees and prayed if You're real, if You heal her, I'll seek You. She recovered. It was my turn to hold up my end.

In February 2023, I left home at 17 with Zoe for New York. I played one summer of AAU ball, picked up enough offers to stay, and became someone I didn't recognize, fearless, where I'd always been passive and doubting. In December 2024, Zoe needed ankle surgery and went home, leaving me at school alone until graduation. She'd always been my best friend there. The loneliness sent me back to that Bible.

This time, I prayed that if God were real, He'd show me He knew me personally through His own word. I opened it to 1 Samuel 2. —Hannah's prayer. I froze. After that, I started talking to Him on walks around campus, and for the first time, I actually believed He was listening.

I graduated in June 2024 and started my journey as a D1 athlete, quietly holding onto this new faith. God placed a friend in my life right when I needed one, Macy, my roommate, the most devoted Christian I'd ever met. We started going to church together, and for a while, everything was good.

Then my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. My grandmother's cancer came back. I picked up overuse injuries, lost my starting spot, and once again, my world came apart. However, this time around, when my whole world was falling apart, I had this unwavering feeling that God would protect me, and I didn't have to fear anymore.

On January 17th, against Richmond, I had a breakout game in the middle of it all and earned a starting role. I finished the season well enough to enter the transfer portal, and Lipscomb's coaching staff found me. I felt drawn to them before I knew anything about the school. My visit there was the most peaceful I'd felt in two years. I knew this was where God wanted me.

Around the same time, my aunt went into remission, but my grandmother's cancer had progressed. I called her as often as I could. In August, Zoe and I flew to spend two weeks with our grandparents. She was sick and scared to die, but those two weeks were full of laughter, dominoes, and baking. Before I left, I quietly left the Bible I'd taken from her all those years ago, with my favorite verses highlighted, praying she'd read it.

She passed away on September 14th. At her funeral, she'd specifically asked for me to read Psalm 23 despite never claiming to be a Christian herself. Losing her showed me, in a way nothing else could, that a person is not just their body. The vicar told me that before she died, she gave her life to Christ.

I spent the following months learning to grieve, transition, and heal from a year that had gutted me. It's felt, ever since I found Jesus, like my life has been one long storm and I wouldn't trade a single part of it. I've strayed. I've doubted. But I run back, every time. I'm not good at this. I don't think I ever will be, fully. But I have a God who doesn't just understand suffering from a distance. He walked into it Himself, for me.

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Not My Wisdom, But His Work: A Testimony

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