Narrator/Interviewer (2:27)

During those years with her mom, Andrea went to church most Sundays.

Andrea Herzer (2:32)

But the grace and kindness and mercy of Christ were not really modeled in my home. Bible verses were cherry picked and used as discipline or weapons and so I didn't really know what it was to have a life transforming relationship with the Lord. But I would see friends of theirs and mothers of my friends who really did model the love and gentleness of Christ and I knew there was something different about those women. So it turns out they were walking in the spirit.

Jim Kirkland (3:07)

One of those moms who lived at her faith through the Holy Spirit was a woman named Mrs. Wu, the mom of one of Andrea's brother's friends. Mrs. Wu invited children from the area into her home for Bible stories and fun, which she called Mrs. Wu's Good News Club.

Andrea Herzer (3:24)

I think at that time, she was simply a homemaker who was obeying God's call to reach children. And she would just open her home and do little flannel board stories. And it was one of the highlights of my childhood.

Jim Kirkland (3:38)

Little Andrea accepted Jesus Christ as her lord at Mrs. Wu's house. After that, she was eager to share her faith with other children.

Andrea Herzer (3:47)

I actually got in trouble for witnessing to children on the playground, so I really would learn verses, and I took everything to heart. And during some of the more difficult times in my childhood, I had this little white baby Bible, and I would read the psalms and I would pray, and I would just feel the comfort of Christ in those moments. But then I also experienced physical abuse. And the excuse for that was that the Lord, you know, was instructing this parent to do those things. And I know now, of course, that that is not biblical. That is not a proper interpretation of Scripture. Yes, we. We discipline our children in love, but not. Not to those extents.

Narrator/Interviewer (4:33)

Andrea moved in with her father and stepmother a short time after her parents divorced.

Andrea Herzer (4:39)

And then I spent a few years in boarding school. Although my relationship with my mom remains complicated until she died, I'm able to hold love and good memories of her in my heart through the power of forgiveness. And my stepmom and my dad are my biggest supporters and prayer warriors. So that has been a source of much solace and comfort and strength in my life.

Narrator/Interviewer (5:09)

Even though Andrea embraced Jesus Christ at a young age, the abuse she experienced during her early years played a role in her pulling away from her faith in Christ.

Andrea Herzer (5:20)

So I think because of that and some other experiences, I had fallen away. And I. I did not believe that Jesus was even real. I thought he was like the Easter bunny. It was just some figment of people's imagination.

Jim Kirkland (5:33)

As Andrea graduated from high school and made her way to Auburn University, it appeared as though she had lost her faith, but God was still working out his plan. As Andrea realized Auburn was not the.

Andrea Herzer (5:46)

Right place for her, I found that a big school. And this. This is where there were rumblings of my health issues at that point, because I would just get exhausted walking from class to class. Class. I would have seasons where I could run and I was active and I would do aerobics, and then I would have seasons where I could hardly even make it to class. And so I began to find that a big college campus just wasn't for me. And I ended up at a smaller Christian school in Texas.

Jim Kirkland (6:19)

That's where the seeds of faith that God planted in Andrea's life through women like Mrs. Wu grew and blossomed.

Andrea Herzer (6:26)

And as I dove into scripture and started learning that there was historical proof for Jesus, I read Evidence that Demands a verdict by Josh McDowell. And it was during one evening when I was reading that book and I had started implementing biblical principles into my life. And I saw the freedom that I was gaining through that, the peace and the joy. I finally submitted and surrendered my will to the Lord. And I prayed to receive him as my Savior. And my life was radically transformed in that moment.

Narrator/Interviewer (7:02)

Andrea was 19 years old when she made that decision to invite Jesus Christ into her life for good.

Jim Kirkland (7:09)

Next came a degree in elementary education and a job as a first grade teacher.

Narrator/Interviewer (7:13)

And a wedding. Then once Andrea and her husband Mark began to have children, and Andrea enjoyed being home with them, I spent a.

Andrea Herzer (7:22)

Short time as a children's ministry director and volunteering at church, and my life was very, very full. I was involved in my children's activities. I would volunteer with Daisies, which is part of Girl Scouts. I would volunteer as a Bible study leader and in my children's classrooms. But after our third child was born, maybe within a few months, I went from being that active wife and mom to being bedridden in pain.

Narrator/Interviewer (7:55)

It was a scary time. The pain affected every part of Andrea's life.

Andrea Herzer (8:00)

It seemed like my body was breaking down bit by bit, because it wasn't just that my muscles were on fire. I could hardly walk upstairs. It felt like there was more gravity on my body. I just. I would tell my husband, it feels like I'm dying. I don't know what's happening to me.

Jim Kirkland (8:19)

So in the midst of raising three young children, Andrea embarked on a painful and time consuming medical journey.

Andrea Herzer (8:26)

I was having to see urologists and OB GYNs and having really radical surgeries and visiting neurologists and rheumatologists who perform procedures and installations and infusions. So that became a part of my journey. And that's when I first started writing, because I wanted to be active. I wanted to use my gifts of encouraging and teaching and uplifting. So I started writing devotions just in my journals.

Narrator/Interviewer (8:58)

Andrea's first set of diagnoses included fibromyalgia a chronic pain disorder, and interstitial cystitis, a chronic bladder disorder that can also be very painful and uncomfortable.

Jim Kirkland (9:11)

Then seven years after those diagnoses, an injury to Andrea's dominant hand led to what's known as complex regional pain syndrome, or crps.

Andrea Herzer (9:24)

It causes disability, insomnia, because of the excruciating pain, and it can spread throughout your body. So although it started in my hand, it soon spread to my feet, my knees, my other limb, my other hand, and some internal areas.

Narrator/Interviewer (9:43)

We are going to let Andrea explain more about CRPs since it's not a common diagnosis and you might not be familiar with it.

Andrea Herzer (9:50)

I would love to share that today because complex regional pain syndrome is often misdiagnosed and people go from doctor to doctor trying to figure out why they can no longer open and close their hands or why they can't stand on their foot. And now they need to use a scooter. And so I'll just share this, that it used to be called reflex sympathetic dystrophy and it's a neurological disease that is influenced by the immune system and it often begins from a surgery or an injury. And both of those triggered my disease. And as I mentioned before, it can also spread to other limbs or areas of the body. And they say that it is one of the most. There's a McGill pain scale and it is considered to be the most painful disease because of the burning and crushing pain. It's non stop. It's way out of proportion to what the original injury is.

Jim Kirkland (10:54)

Here's two ways Andrea describes crps. Debilitating and life changing.

Andrea Herzer (11:01)

I used to tell my doctors it felt like someone took a grater to my skin and then just poured acid over it. And I spent eight years mostly homebound, having to use a walker just to take one step out of my bed and having to use a scooter.

Jim Kirkland (11:17)

I think it's hard to wrap your head around that kind of pain if you haven't experienced it.

Narrator/Interviewer (11:22)

Yeah, I think you're right, Jim. I can't imagine. And honestly, I don't want to try to imagine just how painful it must be. Fortunately, though, Andrea's CRPS is more manageable for her now than it was during those first eight years.

Andrea Herzer (11:36)

I am now on a medical regimen and using water therapy and I am able to walk most days. I do have days where maybe if the distance is really far or if I'm at the airport, I'm in a wheelchair or, you know, I might use my skin scooter if I'M in a museum or something like that. But you never know what God is going to bring down the road. You never know what level of restoration you may have. So I don't want people to lose hope.

Billy Graham (12:05)

Hope.

Narrator/Interviewer (12:06)

That is something Andrea has had to cling to again and again, especially after another diagnosis came along, one you're sure to be familiar with.

Andrea Herzer (12:15)

They were doing a medical trial for complex regional pain syndrome, and they took my blood and came back, and they said, you can't enter the trial because there's something wrong with your platelets. And they told me to go see a doctor. Well, I was exhausted, and it was all I could do to just function, take care of my kids to the best of my ability. And I didn't see a doctor. Probably four months later, five months later, or something like that. It was Christmas Day, and I noticed a huge growth, a bump on my neck.

Jim Kirkland (12:54)

Andrea's dad is a doctor, so she texted a picture of the bump to.

Andrea Herzer (12:58)

Him, and he just texted back, it looks like lymphoma, but don't worry, it's treatable. So I knew that cancer was a possibility.

Jim Kirkland (13:08)

Turns out Andrea's dad was right. She had cancer, and it was worse than anyone expected.

Andrea Herzer (13:15)

So the doctor did the scans, and they came back, and I looked at that scan, and it was riddled throughout my entire body. When the biopsy came back, we learned that I had two types of non Hodgkin's lymphoma. One was indolent, which means it's slow growing. And the indolent form is. You can treat it with chemo and biologics, but it's something that I will continue to have to treat unless the Lord chooses to heal me entirely. But my doctors consider it incurable in my case. And then the aggressive form and I had advanced stage of both of these. So the aggressive form was very fast growing, and we had to treat it immediately with aggressive chemo.

Narrator/Interviewer (14:05)

So on top of the excruciating pain from crps, now Andrea was battling aggressive cancer.

Andrea Herzer (14:12)

When I was diagnosed in that office, my husband started to cry. It was so overwhelming to him after everything he had seen me go through that. Now this was going to be the journey. And although my crying did come, it came a little bit. You know, it came later after my first few infusions. But at that time, I just turned to him and I said, we can do this. We know how to do this. Our family knows how to function throughout my health issues. And we have Jesus. We have Jesus.

Narrator/Interviewer (14:48)

We have Jesus. Became Andrea's Go to phrase at those times when all of her medical issues felt like they were just too much to bear.

Andrea Herzer (14:57)

Every time I started to think I have cancer and it would just take my breath away, the gravity of that diagnosis, I began to replace that thought with I have Jesus, because Jesus is the name above every other names, even cancer. And so replacing that fear with the soundness and strength and assurance of Christ really gave me what I needed to persevere in those moments.

Jim Kirkland (15:30)

Andrea's focus on Jesus was not just idle words. She turned regularly to the Bible in the midst of her suffering, a habit she had developed years earlier when she accepted Christ.

Narrator/Interviewer (15:41)

When we asked Andrea how her medical journey has affected her faith, this is what she said.

Andrea Herzer (15:47)

To answer that, I'd like to refer to a script scripture that I think is really explains it better than I could. And that's when the Apostle Paul writes in Second Corinthians 1:8:9, we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. And then he goes on to say, but this happened, that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. And when you are stricken by chronic pain and debilitating life altering illness, it is a death of sorts. It's a death of your old way of life and you don't know how you're going to endure. So from this I just have taken to heart that when I'm under the great pressure of pain and hardship and health issues, and when I'm reached and stretched beyond my ability to endure, I remember that these things help me not rely on myself, but on God.

Narrator/Interviewer (16:52)

Andrea is quick to point out that God has placed people on her path to help her along this journey. She has the love of her husband and family and also the prayers of faithful friends.

Andrea Herzer (17:04)

Paul also knew the power of a praying community. He went on in this passage to say, on him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. As you help us by your prayers, then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. So oftentimes when someone is sick, people say, well, I wish there was something I can do for you. All I can do is pray. And they just don't realize that that is absolutely the most powerful thing that they can possibly do. Yes. Reach out. Yes. See if somebody needs a meal or if they need help with laundry, or if they just want you to sit with them. But praying with them and for them really does help them. And then when you start seeing Answers to prayer. You will be rejoicing in the Lord, and your faith will be strengthened.

Narrator/Interviewer (18:00)

And what do answers to prayer look like? Well, we've seen throughout this series, the Great Physician, that many times God doesn't heal. Right here, right now. In fact, each one of our guests this month is still waiting for healing.

Jim Kirkland (18:14)

And that is a hard truth to accept.

Andrea Herzer (18:17)

Andrea would know sometimes the Lord answers our prayers, not necessarily by performing a miraculous healing on this earth, although he certainly does that, too. But there are times when he miraculously sustains us in our afflictions and in our health issues. And that's also an answer to prayer.

Jim Kirkland (18:41)

If you're thinking that Andrea has a lot of wisdom to share, you'll be glad to know that she has compiled her experiences and her studies into a devotional. It just came out this summer, and it's titled Incurable Faith 120 Devotions of lasting Hope for Lingering Health Issues.

Narrator/Interviewer (18:59)

The book's been many years in the making. Early on in her medical journey, Andrea would write down her thoughts and then share them with a group of chronic pain sufferers. When that group disbanded, Andrea kept on writing.

Andrea Herzer (19:13)

I would just write down what the Lord was teaching me or Bible verses, you know, stories that gave me inspiration. Or maybe I'd look up the Greek or Hebrew words and find just a treasure in what the Lord was teaching me. And so I had been writing those things for a long time.

Jim Kirkland (19:32)

And now Andrea gets to enjoy the fruit of her labor as she hears from men and women who are blessed by her writing.

Andrea Herzer (19:38)

Last week, a beautiful young woman reached out over Instagram and she wanted to tell me that she had been reading Incurable Faith as she got infusions in the hospital. And she wrote, your words are such a comfort and a balm for me. The Lord is speaking through you, and I'm so grateful for you. And so my prayer has always been, and it's going to continue to be, that the Lord would impart exactly what each person needs through the scriptures and devotions and prayers and worship songs and incurable faith. Because it's important, important to know that you're not alone when you're sick. It's important to receive from the Lord exactly what he wants to give you to impart his encouragement and comfort.

Jim Kirkland (20:28)

As for Andrea's illnesses, she continues as best as she can to practice the hope that she preaches.

Andrea Herzer (20:35)

So I still have CRPs, but my aggressive form of lymphoma is in remission. Prior Praise God. However, I'm still fighting the more indolent form Two years after I ended my first set of treatments, it started growing again. And they do something called watch and wait, which means that they watch the growth, they chart it, and when it starts interfering with your life or pressing on, you know, your kidneys, or in my case, I was having some kidney failure, and it became very, very difficult for me to breathe. My oxygen plummeted. And so that's when I finally went back into the hospital to start treatment again. And I did that, I guess, back in November and treated for a few months. But I have put that on pause a little bit so that I can have the energy to share my story with people. And we're going to revisit what treatments I need maybe sometime this summer.

Jim Kirkland (21:44)

Of course, Andrea still seeks healing, whether it's directly from God or through doctors and treatments. But two decades of chronic illness have taught us some key truths.

Andrea Herzer (21:54)

I used to just pursue healing like someone that was starving for it. I was hungry for healing, and I was going to order everything on the medical menu that could possibly provide it. And what I've come to realize, even though medical treatments are, of course necessary and good, and the Lord does provide doctors and wisdom, and we need to take advantage of all that, I've learned that what I need the most is the eternal and abundant life that Jesus gives me. And my book is one way to invite others to discover Christ's sustaining love in their own lives so that they can be steadfast and have strength and peace amid their own challenges.

Narrator/Interviewer (22:41)

As Andrea trusts God in the midst of her own illnesses, the one thing she would like people to know more than anything else is this.

Andrea Herzer (22:50)

Our health issues are not a punishment for sin because Jesus took the complete punishment for all of our sins. And I think oftentimes people begin to think erroneously that their. Their health issues are somehow a barometer of God's love or favor. And. And they're not. They. Your health issues, your challenges, your traumas, your trials are not a barometer of God's love, blessing, and favor in your life. And when you really begin to embrace that the Lord loves you and he can work good in your life, even amid the most devastating challenges, it changes your faith and you. I. I know for me, I used to think that because I was a faithful believer, my faithfulness would protect me from trials.

Narrator/Interviewer (23:49)

But Andrea eventually came to understand that that is not what the Bible teaches.

Andrea Herzer (23:55)

And so I talk about this in my book. But I had resolutely ignored all the verses about suffering and all the things that Paul went through, and the example of Jesus that he went to the cross for us. And we, we need to deny ourselves, carry our cross, and follow him. And sometimes suffering is exactly what he uses to, to refine our faith. And the refining of our faith makes us more Christlike. It's sanctification that's going to give us a greater weight of glory that we can never even begin to imagine.

Jim Kirkland (24:40)

Andrea Herzer has been sharing her story with us on this final episode of our summer series, the Great Physician. Now, if there's anything you've heard from Andrea that has made you want to ask Jesus to be the center of your life like he is for hers, we have a place for you to go to right now. It's this website, findpeacewithgod.net that's findpeacewithgod.nets maybe your concern is that you're not sure where you stand with God, but you want to know more. FindPeaceWithGod.net is for you, too.

Narrator/Interviewer (25:15)

FindPeaceWithGod.net that website, along with this podcast and everything else we do here at the Billy Graham Evangelistic association, they're all about one thing, helping people have a deep, meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. And it all started back in 1950 with a young evangelist who wanted to tell the world about Jesus. And you're about to hear a word from our late founder, Billy Graham. And then one final and maybe surprising thought from Andrea. You're listening to GPS God People Stories, a podcast production of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Billy Graham (25:59)

700 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah, the prophet, said, with his struggle, we are healed. The stripes mean all the physical and spiritual sufferings of Christ. Billy Graham, Sin is a gigantic monster in the sight of God and it must be destroyed. However, blessed be to God, there's a cure for this disease. There's a universal cure for this poisonous venom which is in the bloodstream of every person listening to my voice. The Bible teaches that the stripes of Jesus can cure the spiritual disorder by his stripes. All of our powers are brought to bear to resist the disease of sin. By his stripes, a man is restored to fellowship with God by the stripes of Christ. There is power to overcome sin daily in your life. All the many spiritual diseases that can touch a man can be healed by his stripes. Evil flees before Christ as the shadows vanish before the sun. Many of you are asking right now, how can I get the stripes of Christ to heal me? The moment you put your trust in Christ, the cure has already begun.

Jim Kirkland (27:05)

And if you would like to know more about that spiritual cure about inviting Jesus into your life Today, go to findPeaceWithGod.net when you're there, click on the link that says Begin a relationship with Jesus. That's at first findpeacewithgod.net we're very grateful to Andrea Herzer for sharing her story on this episode of gps. We have one more word of encouragement from Andrea and we hope it's a blessing to you, particularly if you are experiencing illness. If Andrea could start life all over again, you might assume that she would skip over the pain and struggles, but that is not what she says.

Andrea Herzer (27:49)

And I can tell you 100% today, I would go through all of these things all over again if it meant having what I have now and being able to offer others the abundance of Christ and the feast that he's given me. Because I'm simply writing the invitation to the feast. But it's his feast. And when you come to him and you're searching for him and you want more of him in your life, he will never forsake you. He will never leave you. And even in those moments where you feel like you have nothing left to give and you're just curled up in a ball because of your your devastation or your health issues or anything like that, the Lord is there and he sustains us and he holds us close to his heart whether we perceive it or not. And oftentimes we will perceive it later. But I just want to encourage people that the Lord is with you and he's not going to abandon you during your challenges.

Jim Kirkland (28:56)

The Lord is with you. That is truth that you can hold on to today and always. Thank you for listening to this encore episode from our 2023 summer series, the Great Physician. If you'd like to hear all the episodes from the series, simply go to our Show Notes. There's a link for each one of them there. If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, let us know. We would love to hear from you in the reviews or comments on YouTube while you're there. Make sure you're subscribed here on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube. In the middle of Life we're here in the middle of the week every other Wednesday. I'm Jim Kirkland. This is GPS God People Stories. It's an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Always good news.