When I first became a Christian I was taught that I must be “separate,” that is, I must cut all ties with evil and worldly associations. On the strength of Paul’s admonition, that is a necessary thing to do (2 Corinthians 6:14–18). But I soon discovered that God did some “separating” of His own, a separation from my own brothers and sisters in Christ. Of Joseph it was said that he was “separated from his brethren” (Deuteronomy 33:16, KJV). That separation took place when God determined that Joseph was to be the “prince” of the family, and it was effected when his brothers sold him as a slave into Egypt. The man separated by God was then separated from his family, and all for an important reason.
Joseph’s separation from his family was necessary in order to make possible his rise to the Egyptian throne, which made possible the cradling and growing of the infant nation Israel. Unless Joseph had been “separated,” Israel would have been destroyed by powerful enemies.
Immediately after his conversion, Paul “conferred not with flesh and blood” but went into the desert of Arabia, separated from his brothers. This was another of God’s separations, and it rendered Paul unspoiled to be a fresh, open messenger to the Gentiles (Galatians 1:15–17, KJV).
I am to separate myself from evil; the responsibility is mine alone. But only God can separate me from my “brothers,” a separation that is designed to create a special messenger, a special voice, to communicate His message in a given, and sometimes crucial, situation. If God separates me, I must accept it without question, knowing that separation from my brothers is a transitory phase of my ministry for God that always results in “good” (Genesis 50:20), both for my brothers and for me.
“And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2).
Daily with the King 