Perhaps the greatest trumpet player of all time was Louisiana’s own Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo. He grew up in a rural part of our state in the early 1900's.
I read a good story about Armstrong. When he was a child, his Aunt Maddie Mae sent him down to the pond to fetch a bucket of water early one morning. As he leaned over to get the water, a large alligator came out of the water and almost frightened him to death. He dropped the bucket and ran back to the house as fast as he could.
When he got to the house, Aunt Haddie Mae saw that he did not have the pail with him, so she asked him where the water was. He quickly told her about the alligator. She tried to reassure him and said, “Now Louis, you go back down there and fetch that water. And don’t you worry about that alligator. He’s just as afraid of you, as you are of him.”
Louis replied, “Aunt Haddie Mae, if that alligator is as afraid of me as I am of him, that water ain’t fit to drink!”
Fear can be a real part of our lives. Fear can be crippling and paralyzing.
I find comfort today in the words of David in the 23rd Psalm. He affirmed, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”
Today, are you facing fear? My prayer is that God will give us courage and peace as only God can give.