Just over 12 months ago my husband and I purchased one of the best things ever … we bought a spa. I really love having a spa, so much so, almost every day in the last year we have been able to sit and soak and let the bubbles work our stresses away. Imagine our distress when recently our spa pump decided to cease working.

My husband had a look through the instructions but couldn’t rectify the issue so I decided to help. I am the queen of manuals and troubleshooting, so my first stop was the printed manual and I followed the instructions to reset the unit, but no joy. I turned to my next source of information … Google. I followed the steps listed there for a ‘hard reset’. Nothing. Again. No luck. Once more, just in case. Same result.

At this point I realised I needed to follow the only instruction left which was to contact the company and seek a solution. I was sure this would cost us money as our warranty had expired only a matter of a few weeks earlier but I rang and spoke to a lovely customer service representative who listened to my explanation and assurances that I had followed the appropriate steps. He sympathised with my situation and found a reasonably cheap resolution if I could forward some documents via email.

I was super pleased with myself for negotiating this good deal and so sent him the required information. The email reply I received said something like: “Before we proceed, I just want to check that you have pressed this reset button on the unit” with a picture of where the button should be located.

Now, I had read about the reset button, but had been pushing a different reset button located on the electrical cord because I couldn’t see one on the unit. I was certain that our model pump didn’t have the button he sent the picture of but I decided to check, not with my eyes this time, but with my fingers using the picture as a guide. And lo and behold what did I find? The reset button! What happened when I pressed it? The unit sprung to life. I was both so excited and embarrassed at the same time.

I had assumed I knew exactly what the instructions were referring to, but kept missing a vital step, and so this week I have been reflecting on the importance of following the instructions we are given in life, and not just assume we know everything already. It is good to ask for help along the way. It is good to try something slightly different even if we think we know what the outcome will be.

For me, the best source of information is the Bible, the written Word of God. May I encourage you to not assume you know what the pages may contain, but actually read it more closely and follow the instructions for living held within. Don’t be like me and miss out on things because you believe you’ve already given it a go and it didn’t work for you.

Who knows, maybe you’ll find the reset button along the way.

Be blessed.