About two months ago, I received a promotion at work. The role was something I had already started to do part-time, but now it was to become my full-time title. As is normal when working at a small business or organization, roles take their shape over time. Yes, I now had a new job description, but I knew, to some degree, that this new position would evolve as we hired a new person and our organization’s needs changed. I signed my new job description, and wrote one for our new hire as we posted the job and took steps forward.

I never really thought about what I was giving up, just that I was gaining new responsibilities.

A couple weeks ago, our new-hire started. We have been flushing out responsibilities so that all of us are operating out of strengths; working in areas we enjoy, when it’s possible.

As we have transitioned, my boss graciously asked me to make a list of what responsibilities I wanted to keep. I was so tempted to keep all the responsibilities, regardless of if I enjoy them or if it’s in the best interest of the organization.

It is so easy for me to say, “Give me all the tasks,” for several reasons:

1. I know how to do them.
2. I am afraid that someone can do them better than me.
3. The organization may realize that I’m not valuable.

Giving up aspects of my job have brought out insecurities. Insecurities are ugly. Insecurity makes me defensive. Insecurity is rooted in fear.

Instead of rushing through the list right before the end of the day, I set aside time, at home, to think through my strengths, what I enjoy and where I want to grow. I work at an organization committed to my growth. I work at an organization that wants to use my strengths. I work at an organization that wants me to take on new responsibilities, which is why I was promoted. Even more than what my boss and organization believe about me and want for me, I have nothing to prove in the eyes of the Lord. I’ve been given every spiritual blessing and believe with confidence that God is working all things for my good, because He’s madly in love with me.

Because of these things, I can operate out of security, not insecurity. Instead of allowing fear to motivate my decisions, I can allow faith to be the determining factor.

As I transition into a new role and train someone else as our Administrative Assistant, that does not mean I cannot do my previous responsibilities well. I was a good Administrative Assistant, but that does not mean that someone new will not also be good. There is no scarcity in the Kingdom; me being good at something does not mean that someone else cannot also be good. God does not operate based on human limitations.

With any new position, even in the same business, there are growing pains, but with them come opportunities for growth. I have to be secure to believe these truths. As I default back to operating out of insecurity, competition takes root, and my defenses go up. I must train my mind and my heart to operated out of security — in my own skills, in how my boss views me, and most importantly, security in Christ.

As responsibilities are reassigned, we may see that our new hire is better than I was at completing some tasks, that means that we did a great job hiring, training and empowering someone new. We also hope that in a new role, we’ll be able to develop and utilize some strengths of mine that were previously unknown or underutilized. But, I will only be able to explore that through a place of security.