1 Samuel 13:10 (NKJV)
“Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.”

God has ordained a scope for each of us, and knowing your divine scope is important to finding fulfillment in life. The purposeful life is the life that runs the race set before him and remains within his lane. Everyone has a lane marked out for him.

It’s not how much you do that matters but what you do. Many people measure success by the volume of their achievements. Heaven measures success by the focus of your activities. Don’t go for volume. Aim at the specifics heaven has earmarked for you.

The problem with gifted and skilled people is that because they have capacity, they tend to go beyond their scope, and begin to get into other people’s business. Relationship confusion starts when we cross lanes and forget our specific calling.

So, two things are important in living purposefully and require great discipline. The first is knowing your life calling, and the second is focusing on that calling, even when you have the grace to go beyond it. The purposeful life is the focused life.

Saul was ordained as king. He was celebrated as king. But a time came; because he had the authority to go beyond his role as king, he crossed lanes and offered sacrifices. And sadly, he didn’t even feel any remorse for crossing lanes. That was his major undoing.

Because we are imperfect beings, we may now and again venture into things that God has not called us to do, but the spiritual man knows when this has happened, and is quick to recalibrate. To fail is not the issue. To continue over time in the wrong lane is the crisis.

Purposefulness and contentment happen when we give room for others to exercise their God-given talents, and even when we can do “all things,” we have not been called to do all things. Body life is team life. Body life demands focused tasks. Know your task and run with it. Stick to your lane. This is the secret of purposeful living.