"The discrimination I faced was God's plan to humble me or teach me dependence on Him."
How it sounds in your head: You've heard preachers say God uses all things, that maybe the racism and barriers were His way of keeping you close to Him, that privilege would have made you prideful. So you've tried to find meaning in injustice, to believe God orchestrated your suffering for some higher purpose.
"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
-- John 10:10Religious teaching that makes God the author of evil, assigning Him credit for systemic sin and human wickedness.
Romans 8:28 is constantly quoted, and religious voices told him suffering was always God's will. Accepting that discrimination was random evil feels like losing the comfort of 'God's plan.'
Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery—an evil act of human sin. Joseph said 'YOU meant it for evil, but GOD meant it for good'—God didn't SEND the evil, but He REDEEMED it. The injustice was from humans; the redemption was from God.
I REFUSE the lie that God authored the discrimination I faced. IT IS WRITTEN that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came to give abundant life—racism was the THIEF, not God's tool. Every good gift comes from the Father; injustice is NOT good and therefore NOT from Him. IT IS WRITTEN that God works all things together for good—He REDEEMS evil, He doesn't CREATE it. The prejudice I faced was human sin, and God has been fighting FOR me, not orchestrating my oppression. I reject the religious lie that makes Him the author of my suffering.
The Father didn't plan the discrimination—He WEPT over it. Every door closed by prejudice broke His heart. He's been running toward you through all of it, not as the architect of injustice but as the Redeemer who turns what humans meant for evil into testimonies of His goodness.