What do you do when the fix for a problem becomes more of a hassle than the problem?

That’s the situation I find myself in.

A while ago we got a new internet service. We’ve been fairly satisfied, with one slight nagging problem: the wireless router we got from the company doesn’t always reach the far end of our house. 

The signal seems weak.  

It’s been a nagging problem. It’s not like we don’t have any wifi there, but sometimes we have to move a little to get it. 

I figured that maybe the router was not that strong and a wifi extender could fix the problem. 

I purchased one that was on sale, but when I got it home I noticed that it had been an “open box” item, meaning someone had bought it and taken it back to the store.

That should have been my first clue. 

Set up was easy and it worked well … for a couple of hours. Then it cut out. 

We went from weak wifi reception to no wifi reception because our devices were still connected to this wifi extender that had disconnected from the router. 

I tried several things like moving it to a different location and updating the firmware. It was all good for a couple of hours … until it cut out again. 

It was more hassle to have the extender than to move a foot or two to get a better signal. 

I remember building a go-kart with my neighbour when I was a kid. We used an electric motor with a pulley wheel to power the thing. It was awesome to have a motorized go-kart! 

We placed the motor on one side of the seat, creating a bit of a teeter-totter. We took the rubber tire off the rear wheel, leaving just the rim. Then we slipped a car fan belt around the pulley and the wheel rim.

When we sat on the far side of the seat, it put tension on the fan belt, which caused the wheel to start turning. 

It was great fun; the go-kart went fast. 

We would have used it for years, except for a couple of things … 

We couldn’t drive it anywhere we wanted because we were connected to an extension chord – actually several of them. 

As a result, we had to go in circles. That was okay, except every time we drove across the extension chord, the metal wheel rim sliced into the chord. 

The idea was great; the go-kart was fun to drive. But in the end, it was more of a problem than just pushing the go-kart down the street by hand.

Similarly, I feel like this wifi extender has raised more issues than we had before.

So what do you do when the fix becomes more of a problem than the original problem? 

You take it back, that’s what you do.

Here’s the thing: In life, sometimes we find ourselves with a problem. It might be that we’ve sinned, or just found ourselves in an unfortunate circumstance. Often our first thought is to try to solve the problem ourselves. When we do that, we can find that our solution makes things worse or creates another problem. It’s always best to seek God when you need a solution. His solution won’t make your problem worse or bring you more hassle. Go to Him first. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What problem have you just made worse? Leave your comments and questions below.

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