“Leave it in God’s Hand” — Religion, Fear, Hope, and the Psychology of Belief

Sep 27, 2026 Features / Columnists, News

(Kaieteur News) – In our part of the world, sometimes the problem does not even finish explaining itself before God gets called into the meeting. Lose your job? “God gon make a way.” Doctor finds something? “Don’t claim that. God is in control.” Child giving trouble? “Put him before the Lord.” Money short? “God will provide.” And when we have prayed, worried, called three relatives, tried everything we know, and finally run out of ideas, somebody delivers the familiar conclusion: “Well, leave it in God’s hand.”

We recognise this familiar line, because faith has long helped Caribbean people face circumstances beyond their control. When money was short, illness came, somebody went foreign, or death entered the home, people prayed. Religion offered the belief that today’s trouble was not the end of the story and sometimes that was enough to help someone face another day.