To inhale the intoxicating fragrance of lush green grass —suburbia at its finest. That’s all we wanted. But should growing new grass be all that difficult?

I couldn't wait to see the results as I sprinkled the "guaranteed-to-grow" seed on that long patch of soil. But there were none. Not in three days. Not in a week. Not in ten days. Not a single sprout of green.

I was frustrated. I'm no green thumb, but I'd never experienced this colossal failure when planting grass. With a last gasp of hope, I grabbed the hose and watered it one more time.

The next day, I saw nothing. Bored, I removed the tiny sprigs of two rogue hastas that had somehow sprung up in that patch. Digging down, I removed an inch or two of soil, noting how warm the dirt was in the afternoon soil.

And then I saw it.

Underneath the top layer of soil was a cluster of tiny green sprouts—fine as the fur on a baby kitten. As my fingers cleared away more dirt, I saw more grass—green and growing—just an inch beneath the surface.

The next day, the grass finally popped through once the afternoon sun worked its magic.

The long wait— and my tendency to abandon all hope—reminded me of how some of us approach prayer. Because we're attempting something "reasonable" for God, we assume the process should be easy and that the Almighty should grant our request—soon!

When that doesn’t happen, we moan and complain about the lack of answers to our prayers. Some of us even accuse God of not caring.

But as this grass incident reminds us, we simply do not have God’s timing. Or perspective. Or rationale. And at the very moment we’re convinced our prayers have made no difference at all, the answer may be near—just beneath the surface!

So…

• Don’t stop praying.
• Don’t stop believing.
• Don’t stop hoping.

Who knows what’s beneath the surface!