The Quote
“When you find the solution, it always works, regardless of whether you like it or not, regardless of whether you believe it or not.”
— Godwin Delali Adadzie
Context and Inspiration
This reflection addresses a fundamental error in modern thinking: the belief that truth, reality, or effective solutions depend on our acceptance, feelings, or beliefs about them. The observation challenges the increasingly common notion that something is true only if we personally validate it, or that solutions work only if we like them or believe they will work. Reality operates independently of our opinions. Gravity pulls whether you believe in it or not. Fire burns whether you like it or not. Mathematical equations produce the same results regardless of your feelings about them. Medicine that works keeps working even if you dislike the side effects or doubt the treatment. This principle extends beyond physical reality to moral truth, spiritual reality, and practical wisdom. When people reject real solutions because they don’t like them, find them inconvenient, or prefer more pleasant alternatives, they remain stuck in their problems. The solution still works—they’re just not using it. Understanding this frees people from the tyranny of personal preference and opens them to accepting truths and solutions they might naturally resist.
The Modern Confusion
Contemporary culture has deeply confused personal truth with objective truth:
“My Truth” vs. Truth: People say “that’s your truth” or “this is my truth” as if truth is individualized and subjective. But real truth exists independently of what anyone thinks about it.
You can have personal experiences, opinions, and perspectives. But truth is not customizable. Two plus two equals four regardless of whether that’s “your truth.”
Feelings as Arbiters: Many people evaluate truth claims by how they feel about them. “If it feels right, it’s true for me.” But feelings are terrible judges of truth.
Something can feel right and be wrong. Something can feel wrong and be right. Feelings matter, but they don’t determine truth.
Belief as Reality Creator: Some think believing something makes it true or not believing something makes it false. But belief doesn’t create reality—it only affects your relationship to reality.
Not believing in gravity doesn’t enable you to fly. Believing you’re healthy doesn’t cure disease. Belief matters for many things, but it doesn’t change objective truth.
Preference as Determinant: When people don’t like a truth, they simply reject it. “I don’t like that answer, so I won’t accept it.” But disliking a solution doesn’t make it stop working.
Biblical Understanding of Truth
Scripture treats truth as objective, not subjective:
Jesus Is Truth (John 14:6): Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” He didn’t say “I have a truth” or “I represent truth for those who believe.” He is the truth—absolute, objective, unchanging.
Truth Sets Free (John 8:32): “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Truth has real effects regardless of whether you like those effects. It liberates whether you want liberation or not.
God’s Word Is Truth (John 17:17): Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” Scripture is true independent of human opinion about it.
Truth Endures (Psalm 117:2): “The faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” Truth doesn’t change based on cultural shifts, personal preferences, or majority votes.
Rejecting Truth Has Consequences (Romans 1:18-25): Paul describes people who “suppress the truth” and “exchange the truth about God for a lie.” You can reject truth, but that rejection doesn’t make truth stop being true—it just puts you at odds with reality.
Examples of Solutions That Work Regardless
Let’s look at concrete examples:
Physical Solutions
Gravity: You can dislike gravity. You can disbelieve in gravity. You can wish gravity worked differently. Gravity still pulls you toward earth at 9.8 meters per second squared.
The solution to not floating away is that gravity holds you down. It works whether you like it or not.
Fire and Heat: Fire burns. You can disbelieve this. You can dislike that fire is hot. Put your hand in fire anyway—you’ll get burned.
The solution to cold is heat. Heat works to warm you whether you prefer cold or not.
Nutrition: Your body needs certain nutrients. You can hate vegetables. You can believe that junk food is sufficient. Your body still requires proper nutrition to function well.
The solution to malnutrition is eating nutritious food. It works whether you like those foods or not.
Rest: Bodies need sleep. You can dislike sleeping. You can believe you can function without it. Sleep deprivation will still damage your health.
The solution to exhaustion is rest. Rest works whether you believe in its importance or not.
Mathematical Solutions
Arithmetic: 2 + 2 = 4. You can dislike that answer. You can prefer that 2 + 2 = 5. You can believe strongly that 2 + 2 should equal 3. It still equals 4.
Mathematical truths work regardless of your opinion.
Geometry: The angles of a triangle always sum to 180 degrees (in Euclidean geometry). You can find this inconvenient. It remains true.
Financial Math: If you spend more than you earn, you accumulate debt. You can dislike this. You can believe you’re exempt. The math still works against you.
The solution to debt is spending less than you earn. This works whether you like it or find it convenient or not.
Medical Solutions
Antibiotics for Bacterial Infections: When antibiotics work for a bacterial infection, they work whether you believe in modern medicine or not.
Many people distrustful of medicine have been saved by treatments they didn’t want to accept.
Insulin for Diabetes: If you have Type 1 diabetes, you need insulin. You can dislike this reality. You can prefer natural remedies. Without insulin, you’ll die.
The solution works—you just have to use it.
Surgery for Certain Conditions: Some conditions require surgery. You can fear surgery. You can prefer alternatives. Sometimes there are no alternatives.
The solution exists even if you don’t like it.
Relational Solutions
Honesty Builds Trust: In relationships, honesty builds trust and lying destroys it. You can dislike being honest about something. You can believe you’re the exception and your lie will be fine.
Dishonesty still damages trust. Honesty still builds it. The principle works whether you like the truth you must tell or not.
Forgiveness Frees You: Holding grudges poisons the grudge-holder more than the target. Forgiveness frees you from that poison.
You can dislike forgiving. You can believe they don’t deserve it. Forgiveness still works to free your heart whether you want to forgive or not.
Boundaries Protect: Healthy boundaries protect relationships. You can dislike setting boundaries. You can believe that love means having no boundaries.
Boundaries still work to maintain healthy relationships whether you like them or not.
Spiritual Solutions
Repentance Brings Forgiveness (1 John 1:9): “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
You can dislike admitting sin. You can prefer to think you’re fine. Confession still brings forgiveness. That’s how God designed it.
Faith Accesses Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9): “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
You can dislike that salvation is by faith, not works. You can prefer earning salvation. Grace through faith remains the solution. It works whether you like it or not.
Humility Precedes Honor (Proverbs 15:33): “Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor.”
You can dislike humbling yourself. You can prefer immediate recognition. The principle still operates—humility opens doors that pride closes.
Sowing and Reaping (Galatians 6:7): “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”
You can dislike this. You can hope to sow evil and reap good. The law still operates. You harvest what you plant.
Why People Reject Working Solutions
If solutions work regardless of our preferences, why do people reject them?
Pride: Admitting the solution requires admitting you were wrong, that you don’t know everything, or that someone else was right. Pride resists this.
Convenience: Real solutions often require effort, sacrifice, or difficulty. People prefer easy (but ineffective) alternatives to hard (but effective) solutions.
Cost: Effective solutions sometimes cost money, time, or comfort. People hope cheaper, easier alternatives will work—they usually don’t.
Tradition or Culture: “We’ve always done it this way” keeps people from accepting better solutions. Cultural attachment to ineffective methods persists despite evidence.
Immediate Discomfort: Real solutions may cause short-term pain for long-term gain. People avoid the short-term discomfort and never get the long-term benefit.
Philosophical Disagreement: Sometimes people reject solutions because they disagree with underlying principles, even when the solution works.
Wishful Thinking: People want reality to be different than it is. They hope that wishing changes what works.
Fear: Accepting some solutions means facing uncomfortable truths about yourself, your situation, or your choices.
The Danger of Rejecting Working Solutions
What happens when you reject a solution that works?
The Problem Continues: The solution exists, but you’re not using it. So you remain stuck with the problem.
Suffering Extends: You keep suffering from something that could be resolved because you refuse the solution.
Worse Problems Develop: Many problems compound when not addressed. Rejecting the solution allows secondary problems to develop.
Others Suffer: Your refusal to accept solutions affects those around you—family, friends, coworkers.
Credibility Decreases: When people see you rejecting obvious solutions while complaining about problems, they stop taking you seriously.
You Become Bitter: Remaining stuck in solvable problems breeds bitterness, especially when you see others using the solution successfully.
Life Gets Harder: Many solutions exist to make life easier or better. Rejecting them makes life unnecessarily hard.
Biblical Examples
Naaman’s Healing (2 Kings 5:1-14): Naaman had leprosy. Elisha told him to wash in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman was furious—he didn’t like that solution. It seemed too simple, beneath his dignity.
But his servants convinced him to try. He washed seven times. The leprosy disappeared. The solution worked whether he liked it initially or not.
The Bronze Serpent (Numbers 21:4-9): Israelites complained. God sent poisonous snakes. People were dying. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole—anyone who looked at it would live.
Simple solution. Probably many thought it was foolish. But it worked. Those who looked lived. Those who refused died.
The solution worked whether they understood it, liked it, or believed it made sense.
Jesus and the Blind Man (John 9:1-7): Jesus made mud, put it on a blind man’s eyes, and told him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.
Strange solution. The man could have refused. “This doesn’t make sense.” “I don’t like mud on my eyes.” “I don’t believe this will work.”
But he obeyed. He washed. He could see. The solution worked whether it made sense to him or not.
Accepting Solutions You Don’t Like
Maturity involves accepting effective solutions even when you don’t like them:
Separate Effectiveness from Preference: Just because you don’t like a solution doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Effectiveness is objective. Preference is subjective.
Focus on Results, Not Feelings: How you feel about a solution is less important than whether it solves the problem.
Humble Yourself: Be willing to admit you don’t know best. Others might have better answers than you do.
Test the Solution: If something consistently works for others, at least try it before dismissing it.
Accept Temporary Discomfort: The best solutions often involve short-term pain for long-term gain. Endure the discomfort.
Adjust Expectations: Stop expecting solutions to be easy, pleasant, or convenient. Real solutions are often hard.
Learn from Others: When someone successfully solves a problem you have, study what they did. Their solution might work for you too.
When Belief Actually Matters
The quote says solutions work regardless of belief. But faith does matter in certain contexts:
Faith Accesses God’s Solutions: Some spiritual solutions require faith to access. Not because God’s power depends on faith, but because faith is how we receive from God.
Mark 11:24 says: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Belief Affects Application: You won’t apply solutions you don’t believe in. If you don’t believe antibiotics work, you won’t take them—so you won’t experience their effectiveness.
Belief doesn’t make the solution work, but it affects whether you use the solution.
Faith Moves Us to Action: Belief motivates obedience. If you believe God’s way works, you’ll follow it. If you don’t, you won’t.
Hebrews 11:6 says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Mindset Matters for Some Solutions: In areas like healing, learning, or personal development, mindset affects outcomes. Believing you can improve makes you more likely to persist and succeed.
But even here, the underlying principles work whether you believe in them or not. Your belief just affects your engagement with them.
Practical Applications
How do you apply this truth?
Stop Fighting Reality: When evidence consistently shows something works, stop insisting it doesn’t because you don’t like it.
Seek Truth, Not Comfort: Ask “what’s true?” not “what feels good?” Ask “what works?” not “what do I prefer?”
Be Willing to Be Wrong: You might be wrong about what solutions work. Humility opens you to better answers.
Look at Results: Does the solution produce results? That’s the test. Not whether it’s popular, pleasant, or matches your preferences.
Learn from Others’ Success: When someone solves a problem you have, learn from them rather than insisting your different approach is better despite lack of results.
Accept Hard Solutions: Stop waiting for easy answers to hard problems. Use the hard solution that works rather than searching endlessly for an easy solution that doesn’t exist.
Test Rather Than Dismiss: Before rejecting a solution, actually try it fairly. You might be wrong about it not working.
The Ultimate Solution
The ultimate example of this principle is the Gospel itself:
Jesus is the way to God. Many don’t like this exclusive claim. Many prefer multiple paths. Many don’t believe Jesus is necessary.
But Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Acts 4:12 declares: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
You can dislike this. You can believe there should be other ways. You can prefer a different solution.
But if Jesus is telling the truth—and Scripture consistently affirms He is—then He remains the solution to humanity’s deepest problem (sin and separation from God) whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not.
The solution works. The question is whether you’ll accept it.
Reflection Questions
- What solutions have you rejected because you don’t like them, even though they work?
- In what areas are you prioritizing your preferences over effectiveness?
- Where is pride preventing you from accepting a solution that requires humility?
- What problems remain in your life because you refuse the available solution?
- Are you confusing “my truth” with actual truth in any area?
- What would change if you accepted that reality doesn’t bend to your preferences?
Related Quotes
- “Truth is a bitter medicine. That’s why many can’t take it.”
- “Be wise in this wicked, selfish, ungrateful and forgetful world of humans.”
- “Everything is expensive. You just pay for it now or later.”
Want to grow in accepting truth even when it’s uncomfortable? Explore my books on faith and wisdom, discover more quotes and reflections, or read more articles on living in reality.
