God knows best. We all know God knows best. But why do we continue to listen to everyone other than Him? A simple prayer can give the best advice ever.

I think we want to listen to God; we just don't give Him enough time to speak. In our microwave society we stand just a text message away from a friend telling us what he or she thinks we should do. If only God would come to our beck and call.

God has His own right time for everything in our lives. We need to remember this whenever we think we have to have an answer now, and even more so when we think we have to have a certain answer. We need to pay more attention to the yellow lights God flashes in our life.

Yellow lights make for some tricky little traffic features. You have two choices: slow down or speed up. Of course most of us naturally react with a lead foot on the gas pedal. Consider a situation that arises in which you have to make a huge decision. You want an answer right away, but you feel so confused. You're sitting at a yellow light in your life. Will you slow down and listen for God, or speed through life not knowing what you might run into by doing so? It's not that God doesn't talk to us. We just don't wait for His yellow light to turn green.

Other than impatience, what else keeps us from hearing God's answer? I believe we often put too much confidence in other people and material things. We let our family, our friends, our boss, our bank accounts and our Blackberrys™ tell us what to do. Now those who truly care about us can give good advice, but good advice does not always mean it's the right advice. Only God knows truly what He wants us to do in each and every situation. And while family and friends can help us greatly, the best advice only comes from relying on God's written Word and His revelation to us.

I have found myself guilty of doing things others thought best for my life without first seeking God to see what He thinks. God has graciously saved me from many "wrecks" that could have resulted from all the yellow lights I flew by.

Another misconception involves confusing the things of God with the will of God. What do I mean by the things of God? Things of God are any activities or objects that we can use to glorify God, such as church choir, seminary classes, volunteer services, worldwide missions, youth ministry, charity organizations, and the list goes on. Now all of these make for great works of ministry, but doing them will not glorify God to the extent they should unless God intends for you to do them as part of your own unique ministry. I believe we all should support missions and church functions, but I do not believe that we all should take an active role in the same areas of service for God.

In fact, you do not have to play a full-time role in ministry to do ministry. God can use you right where you are. I believe He strategically puts each of us in places where our unique personalities, interests, careers, and life experiences will reach someone that might never hear the gospel otherwise.

If you slow down and listen to God, he will probably reveal to you why, like Esther, he has placed you where he has "for such a time as this" (Esth. 4:14, NIV). God has you right where you are, right now, for a reason. He used Esther in a beauty pageant, Moses in the desert, and Joseph in jail! And he has a place to use you, too.

God makes each of us unique and gives us unique characteristics and circumstances to help bring glory to Him. We need to listen for God to guide us toward the turns He wants us to make. That means obeying God even when His ways run contrary to that of family, friends, or society in general. What if Noah had chosen to listen to other people instead of building the ark like God told him?

We all have a special mission to carry out for God. Of course we all share in spreading the gospel, but each of us have a certain niche that fits us best. God uses each of us to reach different people and to help with different aspects of His ministry. It is vital that we learn to listen to Him in order to know what He wants us to do and how He wants us to do it. If we just slow down and shut off the distractions, God will reveal to us the part He designed us to play in His plan.

First, consider your unique talents. Your talents consist of any natural abilities that you possess. What do you do best? What subjects did you excel in during school? What tasks come easiest to you? Make a list of all the God-given talents you can think of and then write out how you can use these to further God's Kingdom.

Second, consider your unique passion. Your passion relates to a topic or cause that you have great concern for. You may already serve as a type of advocate for your passion. What motivates you? What cause or organization do you support? What would you give of your time or money to help accomplish? What issues do you pay the most attention to? List to any and every passion you possess. While you might think of several things you care about, you will most likely only have a passion for one issue.

Third, consider your unique circumstances. Your circumstances, good and bad, can serve as a ministry to others faced with the same situation. What in your life has made you stronger? What has brought you closer to God? What would have resulted in your downfall, if not for God? Make a list of all the major milestones in your life, good and bad. Ask the Holy Spirit to comfort you as you write about the bad situations and to show you how you can use your pain for others' gain.

Finally, bring together your talents, your passion and your circumstances. Ask God to show you how you can use all of these together to further His Kingdom. Then, do like Habakkuk did and "Write down the revelation" (Hab. 2:1, NIV). Remember reading God's Word and listening for God's revelation will open our ears to hear His answer. That is, assuming that we slow down enough to hear Him.