In the latter part of June, first part of July 1999, I began to notice that my health was not as it should be. Looking back, I thought possibly it was just burn out.
In February/March, we had donated the use of a portion of our land to be used as office space for a ministry we were currently working with. March had been spent searching for the appropriate office buildings and researching all of the specific needs to place two RV park model offices on the property. There was much to be taken care of - the permits, the power, water, sewer, propane for heating, etc. On May 1st, the office buildings were ready for occupancy. My wife and I spent an enormous amount of time working to get them set up and functioning properly. The founder of the ministry had asked me not only to be his assistant and to be a pastor in the ministry, but also to oversee the daily operations of the office and to be the office manager. I asked my wife to come along side of me and help me in this task. We spent from early in the mornings until sometimes 12:00, 12:30, or 1:00 in the morning; it was it’s not uncommon to spend 16 to 18 hours working per day. We had the office dedication services in July, inviting friends and pastors from across the United States to celebrate with us.
I am a tentmaker, meaning my time in the ministry is voluntary and I am otherwise self-employed. In June, I was also to be coordinating a major three day event in hosting international judges for a dog training association, which is part of my business. So over the whole scope of things, being burnt out and run down from too many hours on the job and not enough proper food sounded like a fairly reasonable conclusion.
As July rolled around, I would find that I couldn’t get enough sleep and that things like a little cold that I normally wouldn’t get, would last a prolonged period of time. Day–by-day, week-by-week, my health got a little worse and a little worse. By the middle of August, I found I was functioning less and that I was continuing to grow even more tired. Because I was so tired, I found my concentration waning, and my ability to attend to my personal and to ministry business at an all time low. I was really feeling the need to take some time off and hopefully renew my strength.
I decided to take life a little slower and spend some time with my youngest daughter while she participated in the 4H and FFA Sheep program at the Evergreen State Fair, in Monroe. However, my fair routine turned out to be a path from Kimberly’s sheep area to the lemonade stand, where I would go and visit several times a day, getting myself the largest amount of lemonade that I could carry, and then proceeding out to where I had parked the car to take an hour or two nap. Sometimes I would even be so tired that I would leave them at the fair, go home and go to bed.
In the middle of September, my wife and I planned a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit our second to oldest son, Steven, for his birthday. Steven is in flight school training to be a commercial pilot. By the time I got off the plane in Tulsa, all I wanted to do was get to the hotel and go to sleep. During the week there, I found that my normal course of business would be to sleep in until 8:30/9:00 in the morning, literally drag myself out of bed, take a shower, and by then I hardly had enough energy left to go downstairs and have breakfast. By the time I was done with breakfast, I was ready for a nap. So I would come back up to our room and sleep for a couple more hours. By the time I woke again, it was time to go down and have lunch. After lunch, I would go back up to the room and sleep for a couple more hours.
I also found that I had an incredible thirst. We borrowed an ice chest from Steven, went next-door to Walmart, and stocked up on apple juice, cranberry juice, 7-Up, bananas, crackers, cheese, nuts, and raisins for my snacks between naps. I would end up sleeping for about an hour and a half, get up and go to the bathroom, find something to drink, drink as much as I could, eat as much as I could, and go back to bed and sleep for another hour or so, or until the bladder couldn’t hold it anymore, and I needed to get up and go back to the bathroom. This became my normal course of life, whether I was at the hotel and even when I came home. I would have food and water on my nightstand, and I would carry food and water with me 24 hours a day. I consumed as much food as I could eat, drank as much water as I could, and slept as much as I could, and at the same time I was losing about a half a pound of weight a day. Over a period of about three months I lost about 40 pounds.
When I arrived home from Tulsa, I told my wife, Donna, “either somebody admit me to the hospital, or I have to go see a doctor. I cannot continue to live like this”. My day was consumed with eating as much as I could, drinking as much as I could and sleeping as much as I could. And I wasn’t doing anything else. I couldn’t function, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t maintain business, I couldn’t go to the ministry, and work at the ministry. I just didn’t have the energy.
Two days after we arrived home from Tulsa, my wife and I had an appointment to consult with a nutritionist. He took one urine test and came back and said, “Sure enough, you have adult Type II onset diabetes”. He proceeded to tell me that I should be able to control it by my diet. I was to eat 3 to 4 ounces of protein three times a day and all of the greenery I could. So that is what I did, I immediately change my diet. My family tells me I have become the Cob Salad connoisseur.
The very next day, I went to my own doctor who had been treating me for an industrial insurance accident on my lower back. I asked him to test me for diabetes and confirm the findings of the nutritionalist. Interestingly enough, I have been seeing this doctor every week for almost a year. On several occasions, I had asked him if I could possibly be a diabetic, as other friends had told me that they thought I had symptoms of being diabetic. He had always responded that ‘no, you are too healthy’. When I would tell him what my symptoms were, he would tell me that I was not a candidate for being a diabetic. He being the doctor, and I being the patient, excepted his opinion. His test also confirm that I was definitely a diabetic. Come to find out the blood sugar test showed that for the past 90 days my blood sugar had averaged right around 380. He proceeded to tell me that typically 500 is comatose and anything below 40 is comatose. When he told me that my average blood sugar had been 380, it meant that my lows had probably been in the upper 200’s in my highs in the middle 400’s. This is why I was sleeping so much.
It is interesting to note that in my drinking frenzies, I had not paid attention to the sugar content of the juices. What I was drinking for my unquenchable thirst was actually compounding my symptoms and making me worse. I was not helping myself at all. Because my blood sugar rate had averaged so high, my doctor recommended that I go on a medication called Glucophage. He started me on 500 mg once a day, and when that didn’t bring my blood sugar down, he prescribed 500 mg twice a day. That still didn’t do it, so then I went to 1000 mg twice a day which finally brought my blood sugar down to the appropriate range in the low to mid 100 range.
About two weeks after going on Glucophage, my eyesight started to go blurry. I could not read to write a check, I could not read the newspaper, I could not read a magazine, I could not read my Bible, and I was becoming very frustrated. Driving was even becoming challenging. As I would drive down the road, my wife would inform me that I was swerving. She would ask me if I knew I was swerving, and my basic comment would be ‘leave me alone, I am just fine’. One of those male ego things. On my next visit to my doctor, I asked him what was going on with my eyes and why everything had become blurry. He told me that when the blood sugar level has risen to such a high level, the cornea in the eye thickens and the eyes adjust to that automatically. When you go on blood sugar medication, the cornea will then start to decrease and go back to the normal size, but the damage had already been done – therefore the result is blurred vision. He told me to wait until my blood sugar had come down to a normal range for approximately four weeks and then have an eye examination. This would need to be repeated about every six months, because my eyes would continue to fluctuate back-and-forth.
I found this information distressing. To get by in the meantime, my wife and I went to Costco and bought one of their packs of magnified reading glasses. I called them “cheaters”, figuring they would do until I could have my eyes examined.
On one of my next visits to the doctor, I asked him, “Doc, how am I going to know I am healed” and he told me “You never will be. This is something you will carry with you the rest of your life.” And I just looked at him and chuckled and said, “Okay, we’ll see”.
One afternoon at a lunch meeting with the founding pastor of the ministry that I was associated with, we were discussing ministry business when his cell phone rang. He answered it, and it was Pastor Bruce Haynes from New Orleans. I could only hear one side of the conversation, but I was able to follow the conversation by what the pastor was saying. It was obvious that Pastor Haynes was asking him how I was doing because the response back was “you probably haven’t heard yet, but he has been recently diagnosed with diabetes”. I would imagine Pastor Haynes next comment was that he wanted to talk to me because the pastor said, “he’s sitting right across the table from me”.
The next thing I know, I am handed the cell phone. We greeted each other in Christ like we always do: “How are you brother?“ “How are things going?“ “Good to hear your voice“, etc. He immediately said in a commanding authoritative voice “I have the anointing of God on me right now to pray for you“. I said, “Thank you Jesus“. He started to pray for me and he started to pray in tongues. It was like electricity coming over that cell phone swarming all around my head. It’s a good thing I was sitting down at the table because if I hadn’t been, I probably would I’ve been sitting down or laying down on the floor, it was that powerful. It was an incredibly anointed and an incredibly powerful prayer that he prayed over me. When he was through praying, I thanked him very much. I told him, “Brother, you can’t imagine how much this means to me. When you are sick, when you are ill, when you aren’t feeling good, to have someone follow God’s call on their life and follow the voice of the Lord and pray for you, I really appreciate it. Thank you very much. God bless you. Have a great day.”
When we had finished our lunch, I went home, stopped at the bottom of my driveway and picked up the mail. After I had walked in the house, I started to go through the mail like I do every day, when all of a sudden it dawned on me ‘I do not have my glasses on! I am not wearing my glasses and I can read perfectly normally!’ Thank you Jesus! Through the prayer of Your servant and the anointing of God Almighty, You have healed my eyes.
I was just ecstatic!! But there was no one around to talk to. My wife and daughter had gone over to Washington State University in Eastern Washington for a FFA leadership conference. They arrived home late that night and my wife had a little gift for me. Knowing that I had been declared a diabetic, she brought me home a little package of Viking Cheese (I’m Norwegian) made at the WSU creamery (I’m a University of Washington husky fan). As she handed it to me, I said, “Boy, isn’t this nice. This is really special“. On the front of the label, it said “WSU Creamery“ and the print was about an eighth of an inch high. I read it to her and started to chuckle, then I said, “You don’t get it, do you?“ She had been on the road for six hours, was extremely tired, had a headache and didn’t have a clue to what I was talking about. So, I went to the bottom of the package where it listed the ingredients and read those to her, this print was about a 16th of an inch tall, half the size of the upper lettering. I looked at her, started chuckling, and said, “You don’t get it, do you?“ She looked wearily at me and said, “No, I really don’t.“ So I told her, “I’m not wearing my glasses. Pastor Haynes called and prayed for me and Jesus healed my eyes. Thank you Jesus, for healing my eyes!” This was miracle number one.
For the next month I maintained my diet, doing as the doctor had recommended, totally changing my diet. I omitted all pop from my diet, I didn’t eat anything with sugar in it, had my oatmeal every morning, a Cobb Salad at lunch, and green vegetables and meat for dinner. This was my life, and I stuck to it like every good little boy should. Knowing the complications that are common to set in from diabetes, I wanted to do what was best for my health. But I told the Lord, “Lord, no matter what – you have called me to minister, you have called me to preach the gospel, you have called me to preach the good news, whether You choose to heal me or not I will shout Your praises from the housetops”. One of my favorite sayings is: “whether I am abased or whether I abound Blessed be the Name of the Lord!”
In November, the ministry team I was working with had been asked to go to Sweden for three weeks of meetings and ministry. After considerable discussion, it was decided that the best thing for me to do, would be to come for the last eight days. I was still trying to build up my strength because I had become so weak after losing 40 pounds and sleeping as much as I had been. I was not physically able to handle three weeks of going from one city to another, meeting after meeting. I was extremely weak. I still do not have the endurance I need, though I am improving each day. But at that point in time, I did not have any endurance and I did not have the strength.
I flew out to Seattle, landed in Sweden, and was picked up at the airport by my host and taken to their home. That afternoon, as they had return to work, I was left to myself to wait on the Lord, read the Word, and to pray and see exactly what God wanted in Sweden. I have been asked to by the head of this ministry to speak on ‘Prophets and Peophecy’. God had laid it on my heart previously to study this subject because this was a ministry focused on prophetic words. Therefore, I have been asked to preach on this subject.
The following day, Thursday, we had a four-hour train ride to Emmaboda. Here we were picked up by the Pentecostal pastor, taken to the church, and we were lodged in the building next door to the church. That night I went to bed somewhere between 8 and 9 PM, but at 4 o’clock in the morning, the Lord woke me up by speaking to my heart about what He wanted me to share with the people of Sweden. I laid in bed for 15 to 20 minutes and let these thoughts come to my mind, then I got up and wrote until 6 o’clock in the morning. After I had written these things down and committed them in prayer, I went back and slept for a couple more hours before starting my day. Friday night, the very same thing happened. The Lord woke me up again, with more thoughts and more ideas of what He wanted me to speak on. Again, after 20–30 minutes, I arose and started writing.
That Friday evening, we were to hold our first service. The atmosphere we walked into was very stoic, it was like looking at concrete walls; there was no life, they were dead, very stiff necked, a very stoic people.
Before I had left for Sweden, one of my brothers in Christ had come to me and prayed for me. He had told me, “the Lord has shown me the devil is mad because you are coming into his territory. You are called of God to do God’s work, to set these people free and the devil is angry”. I knew I was called by God to be there and I knew Satan was unhappy but we had a job to do.
During the worship service on Saturday afternoon, the people still looked very stoic’ very stiff necked. As I stood in worship, I said to the Lord, “Lord, You have called us here, it doesn’t matter what they think, what they are going to do, we are going to proclaim the name of Christ, we are going to praise and worship”. And that was our focus, praise and worship.
The Lord inhabits the praises of His people, and we wanted His habitation. We wanted His presence there. And that’s what we were doing. During praise and worship, I looked down at my blue suit coat lapel and there was a spot of red on it. I took my hand, wiped it across my lapel and it went away. A few minutes later, I looked down and there was a spot of red again. I took my left hand, ran it across my right lapel and brushed it away. This happened three or four times that I would look down and this red spot was on my lapel. In my mind I was thinking, ‘Okay, I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, I’ve had eye problems, I’ve had this, I’ve had that, we have just prayed for a woman who had had a blood vessel break behind her retina and Lord, You healed her. What in the world is going on?’ So finally, I asked the Lord, “Lord what is the deal?” He immediately came back and said to me “Don’t you remember?” And I said “Remember what Lord?” And He reminded me, “Just before you left Seattle, you asked certain people to pray for you at this certain time and I want you to know, you are covered under My blood.”
Well for me, that was like adding fuel to the fire. All I could do is lift my hands and praise Him– “Mighty God, Wonderful Savior, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father, I love You, I praise You and I worship You!” It didn’t matter what people were thinking or doing behind me, I knew what God has called me to do.
When the time came for me to speak, I shared on ‘Prophets and Prophecy’ as I had been asked. As I finished this message, I set my notes aside and told them that now I needed to share what the Lord had laid on my heart specifically for them, in those early morning hours.
I asked them “Are you like Jonah? Were you the Jonah who is running from the call? God gave Jonah a call, and Jonah ran. Are you asleep on the boat? Are they about to draw lots and find out you are the guilty one and ask them to throw you overboard? Are you about to be swallowed in the belly of the great fish? How many days do you need to spend in the belly of the great fish, before you hear the voice of the Lord? Do you need to spend three or more?”
God had given me specific people in the Bible to tell them about. And between each example I was to ask them, “Will you answer the call?” So I did. After I told them about Jonah and his first call, I asked them, “Will you answer the call?“ Then I asked them, “Or are you the Jonah, who in the belly of the great fish, heard the voice of the Lord and said ‘Lord I will go’ and you answered that call and you went to Nineveh. Will you answer the call? Or are you are you like the king of Nineveh, who recognize the need and responded to the call“. And the Lord said ask them again, “Will you answer the call?” “Or are you like the king of Nineveh, who will put on sackcloth and ashes and repent. Will you answer the call? Or are you like King Saul, who will take all of your sins, all of your wrongs and then turn them around to make yourself look good, like you have done no wrong? Will you answer the call? Or are you like King David, who had a heart after God and knew, when he had sinned, he had to repent. Will you answer the call? Or are you like King David who knew that sacrifice was nothing unless it cost him something. Will you answer the call?”
Then the Lord said, “Tell them about Me. Tell them about Jesus, tell them that I love them, tell them that it doesn’t matter where they have been or what they have done. Tell them that I love them. Tell them that I love them so much that I gave Myself for them. Tell them about My blood. Tell them I shed My blood for them. I shed my blood for them, for the blotting out of sins. The blotting out of their sins, never more to be remembered.“ Then He told me to ask them “Will you answer His call?“ And this is the call I put the for you today, “Will you answer His call? Please don’t reject Him, don’t turn away from Him. Will you answer his call?”
As we concluded the service, we open the altars for prayer and over 80% of the congregation that was present that day came forward. They knelt at the altar sweeping before the Lord, asking the Lord to forgive them, repenting and renewing their life in Christ. Simply by hearing the call of Jesus.
We had held one service on Friday night, two services on Saturday, and two services on Sunday. After the Sunday night service had concluded, all the people just stayed around. They didn’t want to leave and go to their homes. All the old grandmas came around and gave us hugs. The men who have been so stoic, came up and gave us hugs, asking, “please, can’t you stay longer? Can’t you stay longer? Is there anyway you can stay longer? Don’t go home, stay longer”. It was great to see the response and the difference in these hearts and minds, to the call of Christ.
Two days before we left to come home, a Pentecostal pastor prophesied over me. She said, “The Lord is showing me that all your diseases, all your sicknesses, and all your infirmities will be healed.“ And she turned, laid her hands on me and prayed for me to confirm with the Lord had shown her. She prayed that all my diseases, all my sickness, and all my infirmities would be healed. Immediately, the song came to my mind ‘I am the Lord that health thee, I am the Lord your healer’. As I would be driving down the road, and my wife can vouch for me, I would be whispering, singing, or whistling this song that the Lord had put in my heart – ‘I am the Lord that healeth thee’. And looking back, I believe that was the beginning of my healing from diabetes.
After I arrived home, I felt the Lord put it on my heart to go off of my blood sugar medication – Glucophage. I started by cutting back from 2000 mg a day to 1000 mg a day, for 3 to 4 days. Then I cut the dosage back to 500 mg a day, and then I went off it totally. The entire time, I continue to monitor my blood sugar level to see that it remained in the normal range.
Remembering that I had asked the doctor previously, “Doc, how am I going to know when I am healed?“ And he had replied, “Well, you never will be. You’ll carry it with you the rest of your life.“ This time I asked him, “How long before the Glucophage is out of my system?“ And he responded “24 to 36 hours”. Then I asked him, “Doc, if I go off of Glucophage, how long before my blood sugar levels should start to go back up?” He replied “3 to 4 days”. Then he gave me a funny little look and asked, “What are you telling me?” I told him, “this is the 13th day without taking any Glucophage and my blood sugar is still in the normal range”.
It has now been over three months since I last took any blood sugar medication. My blood sugar remains in the normal range. I still continue to monitor my blood sugar and my diet. But on occasion, when I have eaten ‘forbidden’ foods my insulin responses correctly. My strength and stamina continue to improve. We give all the praise and glory to God Almighty. With every opportunity that arises, I shout His praise to the rooftops. He is a mighty God and His love, and mercy, and grace endures forever. Amen.
© Not to be re-printed or published without prior consent of Philip D. Skoog
Pastor Phil has seen the hand of the Lord on his
life since he was a young child.