John Elroy Sanford was better known to the world as Redd Foxx. He was a character from the 1970s television sitcom, Sanford and Son. He was well known as a sarcastic and cantankerous junk dealer from Los Angeles.
The most memorable thing about the character, Redd Foxx, was that he was continually faking a heart attack. He would grip his chest and yell, "This is the big one!" That line alone made the show a great comedy hit.
I must admit that it was never really that funny to me, but I have my reasons. You see, my Dad suffered from heart disease, and a heart attack was serious in our family. There was nothing funny about it, and no one would ever pretend to have a heart attack, even in making a joke.
From my earliest childhood, I knew that at any time, my Dad could have a sudden issue with his heart. I knew what it was like to be awakened in the middle of the night to rush him to the hospital.
I knew what it was like to sleep in waiting rooms and listen for a phone call from the nurse with updates on hours-long open heart surgeries. I knew what it was like to plead with God to spare my Dad for just a while longer, and I also knew what it was like to be grateful that the Lord answered those prayers and allowed him to see me grow up, graduate, get married, have children and even grandchildren.
It is something that neither he nor anyone else ever thought was possible. But, God did.
November 7, 2023, marks three years that my Dad has been with Jesus. I sat by his bedside and watched as he struggled against COVID pneumonia. I prayed as hard as I ever had, and then more. But the time came when he looked at us, his family, and said, "I want to go home. When will it be over? No pain."
A few breaths later he passed from this life into eternity, and my world has not been the same. I'd say that it is ironic, but it was all God. My Dad's heart was still beating strong until his very last breath. That fatal heart attack that we all expected at any moment never came. God had other plans.
We spend so much of our lives worrying about things that are out of our control. If we had our way, we would plan our life from birth to death, and everything would go just as we want. But that would never glorify God.
Scripture tells us that God has a plan for our life. It tells us that God's purpose will stand, and will not be thwarted by any earthly thing. That it is appointed for us to die once and then face judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)
It gives us no date for the end of our life. I often have wondered why, and now I know. Had my Dad known when the end of his life would be, there would have been no gratefulness for the "extra" days he lived, no relationship with God formed through the prayers he prayed, and no rejoicing in the healing that he was given. There would only have been the anxiety about the end.
That's why Jesus told us "...do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34) Just seek God and His righteousness, and He will take care of the rest. My Dad did just that, and I am so glad he did.
As for Redd Foxx? He passed away on October 11, 1991, from a massive heart attack. It was the appointed time, in the appointed way, for God's specific plan…And so will we.
