The War Within.

Fear has become our culture's most effective currency. From news cycles that profit from panic to social media platforms that breed insecurity, we're constantly told to be afraid, to compare, and to consume. What happens when real anxiety gets buried under the noise? People retreat, suffering silently—not because they lack strength, but because vulnerability feels dangerous in a world that trivializes pain.

In this revealing episode, Tyler Fulton shares a transformative principle from his Marine Corps experience: the power of asking "then what?" When faced with intimidation, one Marine's calm response demonstrated how fear thrives in vague threats but loses power when confronted directly. For believers, this question holds even deeper significance—because every "then what?" eventually leads back to Christ. "If you're in Christ, every road leads back to Him," Tyler explains. "Even when your mind is racing, you're tethered to something unshakable."

Scripture doesn't ignore anxiety or treat it as a character flaw—it addresses it compassionately with practical paths forward. From Philippians' instruction to "pray about everything" to Peter's encouragement to "cast all your anxiety on him," God's Word offers a divine exchange: bring your worry and receive peace in return. Tyler outlines tangible steps for breaking anxiety's grip: embracing authenticity instead of hiding behind masks, building real face-to-face community rather than digital connection, managing mental input by prioritizing truth over endless scrolling, and practicing intentional rest as obedience rather than escape. "Perfect peace doesn't come from a perfect mind," Tyler reminds us. "It comes from a steady Savior."

Feeling overwhelmed by anxiety? You're not alone, not broken beyond repair, and not expected to manufacture perfect calm. Listen now to discover how anchoring to truth changes everything when the world feels uncertain.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Combat Pastor
• 18:20 ] Anchoring to An Unshakable Savior

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back. I'm Tyler Fulton. This is Combat Pastor, marine to Ministry and I've been blown up, broken down and built back by the grace of God. Now I serve as a husband, a father and a shepherd. I share stories of faith and family, marriage and mission, and I just want you to know that you're not in this alone. We're fighting together, so let's move out. Today we are going to be going over the topic of anxiety.

Speaker 1: 0:26

Anxiety has become a pervasive issue in modern society. It's everywhere, on talk shows and headlines and casual conversations and all over social media. But here's the irony the more it's talked about, the harder it seems for some people to talk about. Talked about, the harder it seems for some people to talk about, because, while the word anxiety is thrown around so freely, sometimes carelessly, those who truly wrestle with it often stay quiet, not because they don't need help, but because they're afraid they won't be taken seriously. They're afraid of being brushed off, misunderstood or grouped in with surface level complaints that trivialize the depth of what they're going through. And so what happens? They stay silent, they hold it in, they keep showing up smiling on the outside while their minds are spinning and their hearts are heavy, and over over time, that silence becomes isolation and that isolation becomes suffering. Not because they're weak, but because our culture has made it hard to admit when we're not okay and when real pain gets buried under performance or dismissed as drama, people stop reaching out, they retreat, they hide, and the cycle continues. But it doesn't have to.

Speaker 1: 1:53

Our current culture doesn't just allow anxiety to exist. It actively feeds it, it multiplies it, it turns it into a product. The 24-hour news cycle thrives on panic. Fear sells, outrage spreads, crisis draws clicks and, whether it's political division, economic uncertainty or global disasters, we are constantly being told that the world is on fire and that we should be afraid. At the same time, social media platforms designed for connection have become breeding grounds for insecurity. We scroll past highlight reels, comparing our real lives to someone else's best moments. We measure our value by likes, views and comments and slowly, without realizing it, we start to believe that who we are isn't enough. We're told we've never been more connected, but in truth, many have never felt more alone.

Speaker 1: 2:57

And in this digital age, silence feels foreign, stillness feels uncomfortable. Foreign Stillness feels uncomfortable. So we reach for noise, for stimulation, for anything that keeps us from sitting with our thoughts and that creates a dangerous rhythm, because when we stop making space to reflect, we also stop making space to heal. Instead of facing hard emotions, we numb them with scrolling, streaming, consuming and performing. But the machine doesn't care about your peace, it just wants your attention, and it's wired to keep you coming back. The algorithms are designed to feed you more of what you fear, more of what triggers you, more of what keeps you scrolling, and the longer you stay anxious, the more they win. So what we're left with is a culture that profits from your panic, that turns your fear into fuel, and unless we recognize that and step out of it, we'll stay stuck in a cycle that was never meant to bring us peace.

Speaker 1: 4:10

Let me give you a picture, a real one, from my time in the Marine Corps. It's a moment I'll never forget and, honestly, it changed how I think about fear. There was a Marine in my unit. His name was Smith Good Marine, squared away, smart, respected.

Speaker 1: 4:28

One night, during a routine room inspection, a staff sergeant came in ready to chew someone out. You could tell he wasn't there to inspect, he was there to dominate. Now, smith's room. It was perfect Bed, tight, uniform, pressed. Every regulation followed, but that didn't matter. The staff sergeant singled him out anyway, started yelling, picking apart things that didn't even need correcting, trying to break him down in front of everyone. But Smith didn't flinch, he didn't push back, he didn't argue, he stood there at parade, rest, calm and steady. And when the staff sergeant paused to breathe, smith said three words. Then what staff sergeant? Just like that, not loud, not defiant, just steady.

Speaker 1: 5:19

And the room went quiet. The staff sergeant looked confused, quiet. The staff sergeant looked confused. What did you say? Smith answered you've told me I'm trash. You've told me I failed. Okay, then what? You're going to write me up? You're going to kick me out? If that's the plan, then go ahead, but if you're just going to yell, let's not waste our time.

Speaker 1: 5:43

That moment it stuck with me. Smith wasn't being disrespectful, he had already counted the cost, he had already played the outcomes in his head and because of that, fear lost its power over him. And I've never forgotten that, because fear thrives in vagueness. Fear says what if they reject you? What if you fail? What if you lose everything? But when you respond with then what?

Speaker 1: 6:14

You force fear to finish the sentence, and most of the time it can't, because once you walk through the scenario. Once you take it all the way to the end, you realize it's not as devastating as it first felt. And for the believer that question holds even more power. Because if you're in Christ, every then what eventually leads to him Lose the job, then what Jesus is still your provider, lose the approval of others, then what You're already accepted by God, face death itself, then what? Resurrection, life, eternity. In Revelation 22, 13, jesus says I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. That's not poetry, that's power. It means there is no end that doesn't already belong to him. And if the end belongs to him, then what do we really have to fear?

Speaker 1: 7:18

The Bible doesn't ignore anxiety. It doesn't treat it like a flaw to be hidden or a weakness to be ashamed of. It speaks to it directly, honestly and with compassion. In Philippians 4, 6-7, the Apostle Paul gives us a clear, practical blueprint. He writes Do not worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything, tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then and here's the promise you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus, that's not some shallow positivity, that's God's word saying. There's a real exchange here. You bring your worry to him and he gives you his peace in return. And Jesus, he doesn't avoid the subject either.

Speaker 1: 8:18

In Matthew 6, verses 25 to 34, he says, not once, not twice, but three times do not worry, but pay attention to how he says it. He doesn't say it to shame the crowd. He doesn't say it like get over it, just have more faith. He says it like an invitation, like he's opening a door. He's saying come out of that fear. You don't have to carry it anymore. Your Father in heaven knows what you need and he's already moving. Then, in 1 Peter 5-7, we get this powerful reminder Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Not some of it, not the manageable stuff, all of it. That word cast isn't gentle, it means throw it, hurl it, get it off your shoulders and into his hands. These verses don't deny that anxiety is real. They just give it a direction to go. They show us that faith isn't the absence of fear, it's what we do with it. You're not weak for feeling anxious, but you are invited to something better, a peace that doesn't come from your circumstances being perfect, but from knowing your God is present.

Speaker 1: 9:43

The biblical narrative of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 demonstrates God's gentle approach to anxiety. When Elijah was overwhelmed with fear and isolation to the point of wanting to die, god responded not with rebuke but with practical care, providing food, rest and his presence through a whisper. This account shows how God ministers to anxious hearts with patience and truth, meeting people in their weakness rather than condemning them for it. So how do we push back against anxiety in a world that seems built to stir it up? We start with practical biblical steps, and the first one is authenticity, real honesty.

Speaker 1: 10:32

We've got to stop pretending we're fine when we're not. There is nothing godly about wearing a mask and quietly breaking underneath it. We weren't made to walk through pain alone, especially not silently. When we're open about our struggles, when we say, yeah, I felt this too, but here's where I've found strength in God, something powerful happens. It breaks the isolation. It gives someone else permission to be honest too. It says you're not crazy, you're not alone and there's a way forward.

Speaker 1: 11:09

That kind of transparency doesn't make you look weak, it makes you look human and it makes God look strong, because the point isn't how well you manage. The point is, who sustains you? We need to rebuild real community, and I don't mean the kind that happens in comment sections or DMs. I mean face-to-face, shoulder-to-shoulder connection. That looks like dinners around a real table. It looks like small groups where people ask how's your heart and actually mean it. It looks like prayer walks, coffee shop conversations, serving side by side, because anxiety thrives in isolation but it weakens in the presence of trust. When we build relationships with people who point us to Christ, who remind us of truth, who are there when life hits hard, that becomes a lifeline. You don't need a thousand followers, you need a handful of real ones, people who know your name, know your story and walk with you through the mess. Because healing rarely happens in hiding. It happens in the light, and community is one of God's greatest tools to bring that light in.

Speaker 1: 12:32

Another critical step in pushing back against anxiety is managing your mental input, because what you feed your mind becomes what you believe. It shapes how you see the world, it shapes how you see yourself and it absolutely shapes how you handle fear. If your day is filled with endless scrolling, if the news cycle is louder than the Word of God, if your first instinct in the morning is to open your feed instead of opening your Bible, then, of course, anxiety is going to creep in, because you're letting your mind be discipled by fear, not by truth. Social media, as helpful as it can be, is designed to provoke. It amplifies conflict, it highlights what's missing in your life. It invites you to compare your behind-the-scenes with someone else's highlight reel and over time it drains your peace, the news. It's built to keep your attention, and fear is one of its most effective tools.

Speaker 1: 13:39

But God's word is different. Psalm 119, In other words. When your thoughts are foggy, when your way forward is unclear, when the spiral begins, scripture brings clarity. It cuts through confusion, it reminds you what's real. That kind of truth-centered input changes everything. You start to see the world through God's lens instead of through fear's filter, and that brings us to rest. Not laziness, not checking out, but real, god-honoring rest.

Speaker 1: 14:22

Sabbath, unplugging from the noise, spending time in the Word, not just to check a box but to actually let it speak, making time for your family, for face-to-face connection, getting outside into creation, where the distractions fade and the Creator comes into view. Sitting in quiet, not to be productive but to be present with God. Rest isn't weakness, it's obedience, it's rhythm, it's how you recalibrate your soul in a world that never slows down. And if you want peace, you have to protect it. You have to be willing to say no more noise, no more junk. I'm feeding my mind what's true and I'm building my life around the pace of grace, not the pressure of the world. That kind of intentional input builds lasting peace, because your mind was never meant to absorb everything. It was meant to be renewed daily by the truth of God.

Speaker 1: 15:31

There's one concept that deserves more attention than it usually gets Comfort. Our culture sells comfort like it's the highest goal in life. Relax more, hustle less, avoid pain, avoid stress, medicate discomfort, Escape anything that stretches you and look rest is good, sabbath is biblical, but there's a difference between healthy rest and passive escape, because the truth is excessive comfort will kill your peace. It might feel good for a moment, but over time comfort can weaken you, it dulls your edge, it numbs your spirit and it teaches you to run from anything that feels hard. But the Christian life it's not about finding the easiest path. It's about following Jesus, and he said that road is narrow, that it's not the wide, comfortable path everyone else is on. It's the road of discipline. Sacrifice boldness, a faith, and on that road you will grow.

Speaker 1: 16:43

That means sometimes you have to choose discomfort. You've got to get up when everything in you wants to stay in bed. You've got to speak truth when silence feels safer. You've got to serve when your flesh wants to consume. You've got to say no to ease and yes to what challenges you spiritually, because the fastest way to a shallow life is to always chase what's comfortable and the fastest way to peace is to lean into what's eternal.

Speaker 1: 17:19

There's a key insight here. Don't miss it. Perfect peace doesn't come from a perfect mind. It comes from a steady Savior. So when fear starts rising, when the what-ifs start whispering, ask the question then what? Walk it out, trace the fear to the end of the line, because if you're in Christ, every road leads back to Him. Revelation 22.13 says it loud and clear Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. That means your life starts in Him, ends in Him and is held together by Him every step of the way. So even when the road is hard, even when your mind is racing, you're not spiraling aimlessly. You're tethered to something unshakable, and that's the anchor your anxiety needs, not a solution, not a shortcut, a savior.

Speaker 1: 18:20

Here's the truth about anxiety that we don't hear enough. The solution isn't found in eliminating every source of stress. It's not about perfect mental clarity. It's not about finally arriving at a place where nothing ever rattles you again. That's not real life and that's not the promise of scripture. The solution is found in what and who you're anchored to. It's about connection Connection to your faith, connection to real community, connection to the living, breathing truth of God's word.

Speaker 1: 18:56

You won't find peace by trying to control everything around you. You find it by surrendering control to the only one who is never shaken. So keep scripture central, not just as a box to check, but as the voice you trust when all the others lie. Surround yourself with people who will speak truth, who will remind you who you are when fear tries to redefine you, and fix your eyes on Jesus, because when your focus is on Christ, your footing stays steady, even if the world underneath you shakes. Yes, the world shouts louder, but God's truth speaks deeper and depth always wins over volume. Fear thrives in vagueness, it loves what-ifs and half-truths, but faith Faith thrives in vision, and the vision we hold onto is Jesus. So when anxiety comes and it will don't deny it, don't numb it and don't run from it. Instead, face it, name it and then walk it back to the cross, because anxiety loses its grip when your hands are holding on to truth.

Speaker 1: 20:14

You are not alone in this. You are not broken beyond repair, and you don't need to be perfect to be at peace. You just need to be planted in something unshakable. So here's your call Let go of the noise, take hold of truth and walk with Jesus like your life depends on it. This is Combat Pastor. Marines in Ministry. I'm Tyler Fulton. Stay in the fight, keep the faith, hold fast and remember you're not walking alone. I'll see you next time.