What Holds Your Orbit Together? #393

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What Holds Your Orbit Together? #393

For the past three weeks, we've been talking about our orbit, and I’ve asked three questions: Who's in your orbit? Whose orbit are you in? And who needs to be in your orbit? This week I'd like to ask another one. What holds your orbit together?

When I think of an orbit, my mind doesn't think of a solar system. It sees an old wagon wheel instead. You’ve seen a wagon wheel with an outer rim, spokes, and a single center hub connecting everything together.

I think our lives are a lot like that wheel with many spokes. Like our marriage, children, career, finances, health, friendships, hobbies, comfort, and success, just to name a few. I also believe that God has given us those spokes to steward well. Today’s issue is not the spokes; it’s that we ask the spokes to do what only the hub was designed to do.

So which part of the wheel has captured most of your attention lately, the hub or the spokes?

I’ve realized something else about the wagon wheel. The hub isn't defined by the spokes. In fact, it’s the other way around. The spokes are defined by their connection to the hub. Without the hub, the spokes by themselves have no strength, direction, or purpose.

After twenty-five years in education, I stepped away from a title, a schedule, an office, a routine, and an identity that had defined much of my life. Now, I’m asking myself some uncomfortable questions. Did I become so focused on the spokes of my life that I took my eyes off the Hub without realizing it? Was I too busy worrying about the spokes to be connected to the One holding everything together?

Maybe you too have experienced something similar during a season of change, and you look back to realize those moments reveal what you were really depending on.

Paul reinforces the importance of the Hub in Colossians 1:17: "And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Jesus Christ was never meant to be another spoke in our lives. He is the Hub, the One who gives every other area of life its direction, purpose, and strength.

Yet life has a way of pulling our attention toward the spokes: work, schedules, responsibilities, achievements, and possessions. Before long, we're focused more on what's around the Hub than on the Hub Himself.

Today, I want to invite you to realign your focus and make Christ the Hub again. When the Hub is secure, every spoke of your life becomes stronger as Christ holds it together.

So before today ends, look at your wheel again and honestly ask yourself, "Am I focused on the spokes or the Hub?" Have the humility to admit where your focus has drifted and the faith to return to Jesus Christ. He’s still at the center and has never moved.

If you're ready to focus on the Hub again to live your legacy, visit lighthouselegacies.com to learn more. Also, check out the Living Your Legacy Podcast.