The Men of Iron Minute

by Chad Zueck | Director of Content Creation

Be All You Can Be

Growing up in a small town isn’t easy. Wayne grew up seeing the same old worn-out buildings while listening to people’s old worn-out dreams. He grew up on a family farm with more farm implements than aspirations. The eyes couldn’t see beyond the dust and fury of bringing in a late harvest. Main street has been quiet since the mill closed, and small-town decay has only been more exasperated by small-minded ideas. The once exciting and vibrant town has been replaced by dull lifelessness, so when the Army recruiter came to his school, Wayne gave four years of his life to cure a lifetime of boredom. Wayne didn’t know what he wanted to do, but he knew leaving this small town was part of the plan. Wayne took the values of small-town living to boot camp and exchanged them for camouflage and pushups. Wayne liked the Army, and though the recruiter promised he could “Be all you can be [in the Army],” he felt it lacked something.

Wayne longed for more of life. The Army harnessed his energy using discipline and pull-ups, yet Wayne wanted more. Wayne wanted transcendence and glory not provided by a military uniform and Army values. After losing a bet with a comrade, Wayne attended a service at the base chapel. Wayne’s quest for glory was quenched when he met God. Wayne began to understand that a life connected to God is not limited to church attendance and spiritual uniformity. Wayne met Christ and began the journey to be all he could be with God’s help.

Wayne’s anxiety in the small town bubbled over into the Army. He found a brook that quenched the thirst for life (John 10:10). Wayne discovered another soldier whose desires were met by the living God (Psalm 63:1-11). Wayne resonated with David’s words and the missional march of a man of God. The Army supplanted disciplines within Wayne, and the Lord refined them through grit and grace.

Every man has the same thirst for transcendence.

You and I were made for glory, not of this world.

Don’t settle for anything less than the abiding abundance of a life connected to God.

Do something.

Dare greatly.

Be a better man.

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