It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. Hebrews 11:7

 

No one wants to think that his or her life was wasted. But that’s what happened to Finnur Magnusson.

 

In the 12th century, archeologists discovered what they believed to be ancient Swedish writing on a piece of stone. [1] For hundreds of years, linguistic scholars studied the markings until, in 1834, Finnur Magnusson wrote a 700-page book claiming it was an Icelandic poem. Later it was discovered that the markings were just cracks in the rock. What a tremendous waste of time Finnur’s life work had been!

 

Today, many are afraid the same may happen to them. Cutting-edge technologies are quickly changing the world. People who’ve spent their whole lives perfecting a skill are being replaced by robots and artificial intelligence that outperforms them in seconds. We’re asking ourselves, Will I become redundant?

 

The Bible tells the story of a man named Noah who, in obedience to God, built a giant boat nowhere near a body of water and in a time when it had never rained before–that had to look like an insane waste. But on the day of a worldwide flood, Noah was justified by wisdom far greater than commonsense. The Bible says, “It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before” (Hebrews 11:7).

 

Following God as Noah did means trusting Him when you’re unsure of the future. God’s way for His followers, in any circumstance the future may hold, is always one of hope and forever significance.

 

[1] [1] Fjalldal, Magnús. “A Lot of Learning is a Dang’rous Thing: The Ruthwell Cross Runes and their Icelandic Interpreters.” Correspondences. Medievalism in scholarship and the arts, 2005, pp. 30-50.