Does God abuse 3yr olds today?

It deeply saddens me how many Christians fiercely defend the idea that God is creating, partnering with, or allowing (permitting) evil today.

A young mum messaged me about her 3-year-old, who has been battling sickness since birth.

Her pastors told her, “This is God teaching you something.”

Let that sink in.

According to them, God is the one giving this child sickness, putting the entire family through heartbreak, financial strain, exhaustion from constant hospital trips, and sleepless nights filled with worry—all just to teach them a lesson.

Does that sound like a good Father to you?

Of course not. It's total BS (Bad Scripture). Few things boil my blood more than this.

Even worse, many Christians believe the same lie or some version of it. Maybe not to this extreme, but still rooted in the same toxic belief—that God creates, partners with, or allows evil today.

They refer to Isaiah 45:7 to back it up—“I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil"—yet it’s easily explained, just like Job is.

But think about this:

If God creates evil, then Jesus spent His entire ministry working against God.

That should tell us something.

It's tragic when a Christian thinks God creates, partners with, or allows evil—but even more tragic when they seek to make it their truth and then fiercely defend it.

This way of thinking aligns more with Allah, the god of Islam, more than Abba, the God revealed in Jesus—read more here.

You'll never see Jesus defend, befriend, or send evil—He came to end it. Yet some Christians argue otherwise, opposing Jesus as if they know God’s nature better than Him. Woe!

The road to more of God's goodness is often blocked by religious beliefs we don't even know we have—many that are cleverly hidden in Christian language, making them harder to recognize.

Firstly, Israel was living in a covenant with God where obedience brought blessings and disobedience brought curses (Deuteronomy 28).

Isaiah 45 is about Judah’s rebellion to that covenant and the consequences they faced for it—not God being morally evil.

A covenant has term. Breaking them brings consequences, not an evil God.

When God says, “I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil” (Isaiah 45:7), the Hebrew word “evil” (רָע, ra) refers to calamity or disaster—not moral evil.

A judge upholding justice doesn’t mean he creates crime.

Likewise, God upholding covenant doesn’t mean He creates evil.

Judah broke their covenant with God, and the calamity they faced was the consequence of their own choices.

Israel didn’t suffer because God turned against them—they turned away from Him.

A Simple Analogy

Imagine a parent who warns their child: “If you keep touching the hot stove, you’ll get burned.” If the child ignores the warning and gets burned, did the parent cause the pain? No—the child’s actions brought it upon themselves.

God didn’t design destruction—He warned against it.

Similarly, Israel’s rebellion brought consequences—not because God created evil, but because they broke their covenant.

Choices have consequences, but consequences aren’t the character of God.

The "evil" mentioned is the calamity that resulted from breaking the covenant, not God actively creating moral evil.

A locked door keeps thieves out, but opening it invites them in—their disobedience did the same.

Einstein has been quoted to say, "Darkness isn’t a thing in itself—it’s simply the absence of light."

In the same way, evil isn’t something God designed. It’s what remains when people reject Him, the source of life.

Evil isn’t something God orchestrates; it’s something He redeems.

C.S. Lewis put it this way:

"If a thing is to be free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible."

Augustine said:

"For evil has no positive nature, but the loss of good has received the name ‘evil.’" — Augustine, Enchiridion, Chapter 11

God is only good, and the "loss of good" is what remains—darkness and evil.

• “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

• Hebrews 1:3 declares that Jesus is the exact representation of God’s nature, meaning that anything we believe about God must align with the person of Christ.

Jesus didn’t come to extend, befriend, defend or send evil—He came to end evil. He only extends life.

The cross proves God would rather suffer evil for us than make us suffer evil.

The New Testament gives us the fullest revelation of God's character. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus—He is the exact representation of the Father (Heb 1:3, John 14:9)

God Cannot Be the Author of Moral Evil:

• “Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God’: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts any man.” (James 1:13)

• “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17)

Jesus Rebuked the Misunderstanding of Judgment:

In Luke 9:54-56, when the disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven (like Elijah), Jesus rebuked them, saying:

“You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

• Jesus healed the sick—He didn’t make them sick.

• Jesus raised the dead—He didn’t kill them.

• Jesus delivered people from evil—He didn’t send evil.

That should tell us something.

Jesus is not telling this young mum and her 3-year-old, "Hang in there! I've given this to teach you a lesson, I hope you learn it soon!"

No, He'd be right in there giving life, healing and hope.

Jesus Defines God's Nature as Life-Giving:

• “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

• Hebrews 1:3 declares that Jesus is the exact representation of God’s nature, meaning that anything we believe about God must align with the person of Christ.

Jesus didn’t come to extend evil—He came to end it. He only extends life.

The cross proves God would rather suffer evil for us than make us suffer evil.

Isaiah 45:7 must be understood within the framework of the Old Covenant—an agreement in which Israel’s rebellion brought upon them the very "evil"—calamity and curses for disobedience—they had agreed to.

It does not teach that God is the author of all evil in the world.

Instead, the New Testament reveals that God’s nature is one of goodness, life, and redemption. And thankfully, that is the "more glorious covenant with better promises" that we are under today—not the one Judah was in.

God can't be both the problem and the solution.

Through Christ, we now see God as He truly is—not as a bringer of destruction, but as the One who restores, saves, and gives abundant life.

If God creates evil, then Jesus worked against God His whole ministry.

If resisting evil means resisting God, then Christianity is rebellion.

If God is the source of both good and evil, how can He judge the wicked fairly?

If God creates, partners with, or allows evil to accomplish His will, does that mean there's evil in heaven? Because Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’"

A father who both wounds and heals is an abuser, not a savior.

The idea that God authors evil makes Satan redundant.

If God creates evil, why did Jesus come to destroy the works of the devil? (1 John 3:8)

If God is the author of evil, why does James 1:17 say that every good and perfect gift comes from Him, with no variation or shadow of turning?

If God wills evil, why does He command us to resist it? (James 4:7)

Why would Jesus teach us to pray “Deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13) if God Himself was the source of it?

If God creates moral evil, does that mean Satan is simply fulfilling God’s will? If so, why does Jesus say the devil is a liar and murderer from the beginning (John 8:44)?

If God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5), how can He be the creator of evil and darkness?

If God were the author of evil, wouldn’t resisting evil mean resisting God?

If God creates evil, then Jeremiah was wrong in saying that God's plans for us are good and not for "harm" (Jeremiah 29:11).

If God creates evil, then He is a hypocrite for saying, "Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21)

If God is not tempted by evil and tempts no one (James 1:13), how can He be the one who creates it?

If Jesus only did what He saw the Father do (John 5:19), why didn’t He go around creating evil, sickness, or suffering?

If God predestines people to do evil, why does He hold them accountable for their actions?

If God sends evil into people’s lives, why did Jesus go around healing and delivering people instead of afflicting them?

If God authors evil, does that mean we should worship a God who is no different from pagan gods who bring both blessing and curses?

If Jesus came to give abundant life (John 10:10), does that mean God contradicts Himself by creating both life and destruction?

If Isaiah 45:7 means God creates moral evil, how do we reconcile that with the fact that God is perfectly holy and righteous (Psalm 92:15)?

Related read: Why Some Christians Defend a God Who Is Both Good and Evil–And The Devastating Concequences of It

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil. Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness. Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)"

Don’t let anyone tell you that God is both good and evil, light and darkness, sweet and bitter. The God who weeps with you does not wound you.

Don’t believe the lie that says He is responsible for the bad things going on in the world. He isn’t. Light has no fellowship with darkness.

God is only good, better than we think. Our challenge is believing it.