If God "provides all our needs" why do so many third world babies starve? (and more)

Q. If one of the foundational truths of our faith is that "God will provide all your needs", how do we put that in context with martyrdom, God's sovereignty, the third world, and Psalm 116:15 (Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints). If we exclude life, limb, comfort, food, and clothing from this promise, what exactly is it promising? Is it only spiritual? If so, why are we considering birds and flowers (Matthew 6:28 and 10:29)?

To begin with, I probably wouldn't characterize the idea that "God will provide all your needs" as a foundational truth of our faith. When I think "foundational truths" I hear one of the ancient creeds of the church. These creeds embody beliefs like "God made the universe," "Jesus is God's son," "Jesus was raised from the dead," and things like that. And in America, the notion of "what I need" is very often at odds with the Way of Jesus.

However, to address the idea of God's provision and sovereignty, and their relationship to the third world and martyrdom, we can begin with some basics.

First, Scripture is best understood as a whole piece of fabric; not every thread can equally represent the whole. God's provision for us can be seen from our perspective (a limited kind of view) or from God's perspective (of which we only have the barest understanding). There are good times to consider the birds and flowers, as Matthew 6:28 enjoins us, and there are other times when we are overwhelmed by the sorrow and suffering of the world, and we wonder what on Earth God has in mind. In the end, God's sovereignty means that there is so much more to life, death, and life after death than we will ever understand.

We do know this: God made us creatures of choice, and since we don't always make the best choices, there's going to be a lot of brokenness in the world. Americans are overweight while Rwandans starve. God could step in and address this, and God does it all the time: ever known a young person who left a promising career in law to feed children in Thailand? Ever been a part of a church that consistently creates opportunities to collect food for hungry people? Then you've seen, or been a part of, a tiny part of God's provision.

The issue of martyrdom and God's provision and sovereignty is more complex, but we still have some handles on it. Martyrdom, when it means dying for the cause of God (people will die for lots of causes, not all of them have anything to do with God), has long been understood in the church to be an act imitative of Christ's sacrifice of his life on our behalf. My understanding of God in Jesus does not make me think he enjoys death. In fact, the resurrection shows us that he will stop at nothing to be united with us in love no matter how much death we deal out.

The fact is that Jesus had the power to kill his enemies, and chose to love them instead. He died because he refused to kill. Many Jesus-followers have found themselves in similar situations. We often have the power to kill our enemies. Very often we tie our cause to God so that it feels morally right, although how often we've discerned that correctly is up for debate.

Sometimes we don't have the power to kill our enemies, but we do have the power to deflect our own deaths or suffering. On my first day in seminary, a teacher read aloud to our class the ancient account of the martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, much of which was written by Perpetua herself. At the end, many of us were in tears, and indeed, these two women's faith -- even unto death -- seemed deeply precious. Both of them could have avoided death by recanting their faith. They chose instead a path I can hardly fathom. In their story I see the brokenness of the world, the faith of two women (one pregnant and one a slave), and a God who inspires a kind of devotion I've never been called on to show. I come away with a different perspective on my life, and God's provision for me.