Why We Keep Going in Circles (and How to Break Free)
An abstract of TBC Lead Pastor Connor Kraus’ sermon on January 11, 2026, in the Book of Judges series. Watch the sermon video here.
Most of us start the year with big goals. We're going to hit the gym. Start a diet. Build better habits. Create new routines. And for most of us, there's a rise of hope followed by a fall. Maybe not a dramatic fall, but a discouraging one. And once we're in that valley, we say, "It's going to start next Monday. Next week. This time will be different."
But the cycle repeats.
If you've ever felt like your relationship with God is more like driving through the Flint Hills—lots of ups and downs—rather than a steady climb upward, you're going to relate to the nation of Israel in the Book of Judges. They're walking through a cycle of faith too: highs followed by very low lows. And the reason the Book of Judges is 16 chapters long is because they don't learn from their mistakes.
But here's the sad truth: faithfulness would have removed them from this cycle. They didn't need to keep walking through all this difficulty if they would simply trust in God.
This morning, we're looking at the first judge—a man named Othniel—who rescues Israel from oppression. But the greater focus is understanding the pattern that keeps repeating, and what we can learn about breaking free from our own cycles.
How Israel Got Here
If you missed last week's message, here's what you need to know: Israel entered the Promised Land but didn't finish the job. Instead of driving out the people who worshiped false gods, they made them neighbors. And as they became neighbors, Israel began accepting their practices, thinking those practices were good. They brought idols into their own homes. They rejected God.
God's response? He invoked the covenant consequences He'd warned them about for generations. Everything that's about to happen to Israel—all the oppression, all the struggle—God had told them would happen if they rejected Him.
But Israel's rebellion didn't start with dramatic rejection of God. It began slowly. They tolerated their neighbors. Then they compromised their beliefs and rules. Then they began to affirm what their neighbors were doing. It was small, seemingly harmless steps away from God's goodness.
The writer of Judges gives us a report card on Israel: "They settled among the Canaanites... The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods" (Judges 3:5-6).
Enter King Kushan (The Double Wicked)
Because of Israel's rebellion, God raised up a distant enemy to conquer them. The writer gives this king a nickname: "King Kushan Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim"—which literally translates to "King Kushan the Double Wicked of Aram Double Rivers." Not subtle.
For eight years, this king from Mesopotamia oppressed Israel. And here's the thing: this generation had never experienced oppression before. They'd only heard stories from their parents and grandparents about slavery in Egypt and wandering in the desert. But they didn't heed those warnings. They trampled on God's blessings and pursued something else.
Finally, after eight years, Israel cried out to God. We can imagine they tried their false gods first—the ones they'd adopted into their homes. But those gods of wood and stone with demons behind them couldn't deliver Israel. So they tried Plan B: the God they used to worship.
And the Lord heard their cries.
The First Judge: Othniel
God raised up Othniel, son of Kenaz. He's the first of many judges, and he's the prototype—the one we'll compare everyone else to.
Who was Othniel? If we look back at Judges 1, we find that Caleb—the national hero who, along with Joshua, was one of only two spies who said Israel could conquer the Promised Land—offered his daughter in marriage to whoever could capture a difficult city. Othniel stepped up, conquered the city, and married Caleb's daughter.
Othniel was faithful, obedient, courageous, and full of faith in God. He's one of the only judges who never has anything negative said about him.
When Othniel stepped up to deliver Israel, here's what happened: "The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the Lord handed over King Kushan Rishathaim of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him. Then the land had peace for 40 years" (Judges 3:10-11).
Notice the active language describing God's work: God raised up Othniel. The Spirit came upon him. The Lord handed over the king. Othniel was an instrument of God's deliverance. God gets the glory for the rescue.
The Cycle That Never Ends
This gives us the pattern we'll see repeated throughout Judges:
Israel experiences rest and peace
Israel rebels and worships false gods
God raises up an enemy to oppress them
Israel cries out to God
God raises up a judge to deliver them
The land has peace... and the cycle starts again
Some people look at this and ask: How can God get glory for rescuing Israel when He brought the difficulty in the first place?
Three answers:
Israel's sins invoked this pattern. God is only bringing judgment because of their rebellion. His deliverance, however, comes from mercy and grace—Israel does nothing to deserve it except cry out.
Israel is responsible for their own sins. God didn't make them worship idols. He tested them, but He didn't tempt them.
Israel knew this would be the result. God warned them for generations through prophets, angels, and His written Word. The consequences weren't a surprise.
Those who serve foreign gods eventually find themselves serving foreign kings.
Breaking the Cycle: What to Do in Victory
Why does Israel keep descending into this pattern during times of rest? When everything is going well, why do they abandon God?
I think one difficulty is developing a relationship with God based only on needs. When you communicate with God almost exclusively about things in your life that need to change, what happens when everything is good? When your "wishes have been granted," you have no more use for the "genie."
This leads to two problems:
Silence: Israel stopped worshiping God because they didn't see the need for Him anymore. Their relationship grew stale.
Pride: They saw themselves as the heroes of their story. They took personal credit for their success.
Both attitudes recreate Israel's footsteps. So what should we do during times of victory or rest?
1. Recognize God Publicly
Like athletes who awkwardly but genuinely thank Jesus on national broadcasts—decide ahead of time that you'll platform God whenever you have opportunity.
2. Remember You're a Steward, Not an Owner
Every good thing in your life is a gift from God. Your business, your health, your children, your talents—you've been given these to steward well, not to possess.
3. Become an Expert in Gratitude
When was the last time you thanked God for the food in your fridge or water from your faucet? We forget the daily sustaining work He does and only thank Him for superficial concerns.
4. Don't Postpone Obedience
When everything is going well, we think, "Why shake things up now? Why change what's working?" The answer: because you don't want that small thing to become a big thing. You don't want to face the consequences of disobedience long forgotten.
Breaking the Cycle: What to Do in Struggle
Some of you aren't in a period of rest right now. You're waiting for God to raise up the judge. What do you do in the midst of difficulty?
First, understand that as Christians today, we're not under the same covenant system as Israel in Judges. Their covenant tied obedience directly to blessings and disobedience to discipline. Our new covenant in Christ works differently.
But Christians should still see discipline as:
God drawing us away from idolatry and weak faith
God bringing difficult situations to grow our faith in ways that wouldn't happen during rest
Hebrews 12 says: "The Lord disciplines the one he loves... For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
If you're in a difficult situation right now, focus on these things:
1. Examine Your Life Carefully
There's not a one-to-one relationship between disobedience and difficulty. Being sick doesn't mean God is punishing you. But times of discipline are always opportunities to examine where you're living for the Lord and where you're not.
2. Ask What Lesson You're Supposed to Learn
Far more often than not, the lesson isn't "be obedient." It's patience, trust, mercy, endurance, persistence—qualities that can only be developed through walking through valleys.
3. Trust in the Timing of God
The goal isn't behavior modification but heart modification. God's timing is perfect, even when we don't understand or agree with it. Remember: 40 years can be one chapter of the Bible. His timeline is different from ours.
4. Remember These Moments
When Israel was in times of rest, God said, "Remember the struggles. Remember how I delivered you." When you're in struggle right now, you're in the information-gathering phase. These are lessons you'll need to remember later.
The Deliverer Who Breaks the Cycle
Othniel was a good judge—one of the best. But even though he delivered Israel by God's power, he couldn't save Israel from her sins. She eventually went back into the cycle and needed rescue again and again.
Many years later, God raised up a final Deliverer. One who didn't just have the Spirit come upon Him, but was filled with the Spirit entirely—being God Himself. That Deliverer lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins, once and for all, so that anybody who trusts in Him would not perish but have eternal life.
Your hope doesn't rest in human performance. It rests in the One who empowers it from the very beginning.
If you feel stuck in a spin cycle, God is the One who gets you out. But you need to take accountability for not only your actions but your future. Whether you learned the lesson from the previous time matters when the next test comes.
The power of Christ through the Holy Spirit is sufficient for you to kick this cycle once and for all. This doesn't have to be like going to the gym in January. But if you want to break free, you can't rely on yourself. You have to take responsibility for what's happened and seek the Lord in both victory and in struggle.
Join us this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 a.m. and discover what it means to break free from cycles and walk in the power of the One who delivers us completely.