Let us examine three ways in which man must "deal with God."

Waiting for God. "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope." {Psalm 130:5} What does it mean to wait for God? Quite simply, it means allowing things to work out according to God's timetable and not one's own.

Sarah learned a hard lesson because she failed to "wait for God." Abraham was 86, and it had been 11 years since God promised him an heir. Sarah was still barren. Instead of "waiting," she decided to give God a hand. She gave Hagar to Abraham in order to raise up a child through her. Yes, Hagar conceived and bore Abraham a son whose name was Ishmael. But this was not the "child of promise." That child would be Isaac who was born some 14 years later. Time did not matter to God, and He fulfilled His promise when He was ready-without help from Sarah and Hagar. If you read the history of Ishmael's descendants, you'll find that they became enemies of God's people.

We too must learn to "wait for God." His timetable may be different from ours, but He knows what is best for us in our lives. This waiting requires that we have discipline, trust, and confidence in God and His ability.

Walking with God. "After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." {Genesis 5:22-24} How did Enoch walk with God? He lived his life according to the directions God gave him. This man humbly and reverently followed the course that God set before him. Why? One has to believe that Enoch had total trust in his knowledge that God's ways were the best ways.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." {Isaiah 55:8,9} Too many today try to "run ahead of God." Walking with God exhibits confidence in His ways over our own. Divine wisdom is always the better course to pursue.

Working for God. "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." {Hebrews 11:7}

Noah did not even know what rain was. Yet, when God instructed him to build the ark, he built it according to His instructions {Genesis 6:22}. When God told Joshua how to take the city of Jericho, he followed God's instructions and the walls fell {Joshua 6}. What did Noah and Joshua have in common? Each understood the importance of following God and working His plan instead of his own.

Dear reader, are you waiting for, walking with, and working for God? If one desires to have "good dealings" with God, he would do well to learn these three lessons. Trusting in and following God's commands will always place a person in the best possible position to succeed. How do you "deal" with God?