⁴⁸ He saw them straining at the oars,^[a] because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning^[b] he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them. (Mark 6:48 CSB)

This is an incredible part of scripture where our attention is drawn primarily to Christ act of walking upon the water. We tend to skim over the last of this verse where it states that He “wanted to pass by them.”

It may strike us as odd that this is how the verse ends but it denotes a very important characteristic of God. Other places in scripture we see a reference to God ”passing by” as well. This is not meant to be a situation where God is trying to hide or walk away from us. It is meant as a call to faith.

When we are in a time of need or calling out, God may “pass by” to allow our faith to be drawn to Him. It is an act of magnetism. It draws us out, calling upon us to act upon faith and draw near to Him, it may even be asking us to metaphorically walk upon the water.

It is God’s way of revealing Himself to us and providing the opening to take that very needed step out on faith.