Last week my printer stopped working. A red light came on indicating there was a serious problem.

My printer is not that old so I was a little upset thinking that I might have to replace it. If you’ve had to replace a printer, or even purchase ink or toner for a printer, you’re probably having the same gulping reaction right now that I had when that red light came on.

Now I didn’t panic – I know there are things you can do to trick a printer into extracting ink on a page beyond its normal capabilities.

If it’s a laser printer, you can take the toner cartridge out and shake it from side to side, and that usually extends your printing ability for at least another hundred pages or so.

If it’s an inkjet printer, the best trick is just to buy another printer because you will pay more for replacement ink than you will for a new printer!

We have a colour laser printer; I really like it, but it’s more complicated than a plain monochrome printer. When the red light came on, unfortunately it didn’t speak up for itself and tell me exactly what was wrong.

In the Bible God caused Balaam’s donkey to speak, to inform Balaam about serious danger ahead. … It didn’t matter how long I looked at that red light or abused the buttons on the machine, no word came forth to tell me what was wrong!

I had to resort to the manual, which of course was not printed, though you might think that a company that makes printers would print their manual.

I found the manual online and looked up troubleshooting. It was a pretty weak troubleshooting section because it didn’t seem to cover the red light problem I was having.

I had to resort to google. I typed in my question and it was there that I found the solution to my problem.

My printer doesn’t just have toner cartridges that need to be replaced when they are empty; my printer also has a toner waste container that needs to be replaced when it’s full.

Get that – the printer has you coming and going. It’s like double dipping in the printer world!  They charge for toner AND they charge to take the residue away.

What I needed to purchase was a new toner waste container before my printer would work again.

I have lots of toner; I can print for another half a year or more before I will need to replace any.  But I couldn’t print because I had to remove the waste the toner leaves behind.

Once I found that out, I was off to the store. I found a container that looked just like mine except the number was different and it seemed bigger. I looked harder and found the right one.

That’s right, the one I needed was smaller and ten dollars more! Figures.

Here’s the thing:  Life can be complicated, difficult to figure out. Often we try our own solutions (tricks) to get us back on track again. Some solutions may work for a little while. But when a red light shows up in your life the best thing to do is investigate with God what the root issue is that needs to be solved. Let Him reveal that to you and help you find the right solution.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you tried to solve yourself rather than seek God’s help? Leave your comment below.