My eyes fail with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.” —Isaiah 38:14

Do you ever find it hard to lift your eyes to God in prayer? Maybe you’ve tried to pray, but your words fall flat. Or perhaps your soul feels so weighed down by grief, guilt, or exhaustion that even looking heavenward feels like too much.

Hezekiah’s cry in Isaiah 38:14 meets us in that place. He had been brought to the brink of death, his strength drained by sickness. All he could do was utter this desperate plea: “My eyes fail with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.”

I’ve had so many days like that, too—moments when grief was so heavy that lifting my eyes felt impossible. Instead of looking upward, I looked inward, consumed by guilt and pain. But Scripture, again and again, shows us that God does not wait for us to have the strength to cry to him. He meets us in our weakness. He draws near to us, even when all we can do is whisper for help.

In her book, Free Grace and Dying Love, Susan Spurgeon writes:

"I am utter weakness, Lord; a weight of sin, and sorrow, and sickness oppresses me. I am brought so low that I cannot even lift up my eyes unto You. But come, sit by my bed, close to me, Lord, so that I need not look up, but can shut my weary eyes in the joyful knowledge that you are looking down in tenderest pity on me, and saying, "Fear not, for I am with you.”

Her words remind me that weakness isn’t a disqualifier—it’s an invitation. God is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18) and undertakes for us when we can’t fight the battle on our own. When He undertakes our case, He doesn’t leave it half-finished:

• He delivers us from evil.
• He blots out our sins.
• He sanctifies our afflictions for His glory.
• He turns our sorrow into joy.

Our pain is never wasted, friends. God uses even our worst days to refine us, draw us closer to Him, and work out His good purposes in our lives. We can place our physical, mental, and spiritual burdens into His hands and find rest when we leave them there.

Let this be our prayer today:

Lord, I come to You in my weakness, just as Hezekiah did. I often fail to lift my eyes when my soul is overwhelmed. But You, in Your love, come close when I can’t reach for You. Undertake for me today, Father—take my burdens, my fears, and my failures, and transform them for Your glory. Sanctify this affliction, Lord, and let it draw me closer to You. Amen.

Inspired by Susan Spurgeon’s Free Grace and Dying Love: Drooping Eyelids.