Lesson 5 - Turn

From Caves to Conquest

(Judges 6:1-10)

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control.

"Happy are the meek." Matthew 5:5.

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

"Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1.

To do this step you have to commit ALL your life and will to Christ's care and control.

How do you do that? Well it is three action steps.

TURN

Trust

Understand

Repent

New life

Let's talk about TRUST first.

Deciding to turn your life and your will over to God requires only trust.

"If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

Try to name somethings or people that your trust in that you don't even know or understand.

Other drivers on the road

Airplane

Food handlers

The chair you're sitting in tonight

So, these are often unproven and unseen people, places, and things, yet we still trust in them.

Why then is it so hard for us to trust our lives to the care of God, whose eye is always upon us?

It's your choice and not… chance. It's is act of your will to decide to trust in Jesus. It is fully surrendering to God and trusting Him for your future.

After you have decided to trust, the next step is UNDERSTANDING.

Remember that relying on your own understand bought you the seat you are sitting in tonight.

After you have made the decision to ask Jesus into your life, you need to begin to seek His will for your life in all your decisions.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Let me tell you something. It has taken all my life to understand that it is not necessary for me to understand everything or be in charge of everything.

The third part of the acrostic is REPENT.

To truly repent, you must not lonely turn away from your sins, but also turn toward God.

"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed." (Romans 12:2a)

I think most people repent of their sins more from fear of punishment than from a real change of heart. God is a loving father that wants and has your best for your life.

He will joyously give you the last part of the acrostic…NEW LIFE.

After you ask Jesus into your heart, you wil have a new life!

"Now God says He will accept and acquit us – declare us 'not guilty' – if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins." (Romans 3:22)

The new life you will receive is a result of the three action steps of trusting, understanding, and repenting.

"From Caves to Conquest"

How God Moves Us from Bondage to Breakthrough

Text: Judges 6:1–10

Theme: Sin robs us of progress—but surrender restores it.

READ THE TEXT

1) Introduction

a) In Judges 6, Israel is hiding in caves.

b) They once walked in victory.

"'Thus let all your enemies perish, O LORD! But let those who love Him be like the sun when it comes out in full strength.' So the land had rest for forty years." (Judges 5:31)

c) Now they live in fear.

d) They once harvested blessing.

e) Now everything they plant is stolen.

f) This is not just Israel's story.

i) It's the story of addiction. It's the story of relapse. It's the story of strongholds.

g) And it's the story of recovery.

h) The cycle in Book of Judges mirrors the recovery journey:

i) Sin → Bondage → Cry for Help → Deliverance.

2) Point 1: The Pain of Denial

(Judges 6:1–6)

[1] "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD… So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian…"

a) Israel didn't fall overnight.

i) They drifted.

ii) And their drift led to bondage.

iii) They worked hard—but gained nothing. They planted—but couldn't harvest. They lived—but not freely.

[3-4] "So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey."

b) They ended up hiding in caves (vs. 2).

c) Apostasy Leads to Servitude

i) Apostasy Defined - Apostasy means turning away from God after knowing the truth.

d) After 40 years of peace following the victory celebrated in Book of Judges 5:31, Israel became prosperous, complacent, and spiritually careless.

i) Prosperity often creates spiritual forgetfulness.

e) The Result: Servitude

i) Because of their sin, God allowed Midian to oppress them for seven years.

(1) This was not cruelty from God—it was discipline and mercy.

ii) God sometimes allows hardship because:

(1) Discipline awakens us spiritually

(2) Pain exposes our dependence on Him

(3) Correction prevents deeper destruction

iii) It would have been worse if God had simply left them alone in their sin.

f) Celebrate Recovery Principle 1 - "Realize I'm not God. I admit that I am powerless…"

i) Recovery begins when we stop pretending.

ii) Israel tried surviving in caves before they cried out. Denial keeps us hiding.

iii) Addiction, pride, anger, lust, codependency— they all push us into caves.

iv) And sin always robs progress.

Principle: You can't conquer what you won't confess.

Confession admits the problem; belief discovers the solution.

g) Celebrate Recovery Principle 2 - "Earnestly believe that God exists…"

i) The Midianites were NOT stronger than God. Israel was simply disconnected from Him.

(1) Your struggle is not bigger than God.

(2) But you cannot defeat what you refuse to surrender.

3) Point 2: The Power of Surrender

(Judges 6:6)

[6] "Then the children of Israel cried out to the LORD."

a) Seven years of loss before they prayed. After years of humiliation and poverty, they finally turned to God.

i) Prayer was their last resort instead of their first response.

b) But here's the good news:

i) The moment they cried out, God moved.

Principle: Recovery begins when pride ends.

c) Many believers follow the same pattern.

i) We try:

(1) self-effort

(2) human solutions

(3) endurance

(4) Only when everything fails do we cry out to God.

d) Celebrate Recovery Principle 3 - "Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control."

i) Crying out is surrender.

(1) It's saying: "I can't fix this." "I need help." "I'm done pretending."

(2) God responds to humility.

(a) Not perfection. Not performance. Not promises.

(b) Just surrender.

Principle: God moves when pride steps aside.

4) Point 3: The Path to Restoration

(Judges 6:7–10)

a) Before God sent Gideon, He sent a prophet (vss. 8-10).

i) Why?

(1) Because the real problem wasn't Midian - It was disobedience.

Principle: Recovery requires truth before rescue.

b) The Prophet's Message

i) God reminded them:

[8] "I brought you out of Egypt."

ii) This reminder emphasized three truths:

(1) God's Love - The God who delivered them from Egypt still loved them.

(2) God's Power - If He could defeat Egypt, He could defeat Midian.

(3) Israel's Problem –

[10] "You have not obeyed My voice."

(a) Their enemy was not Midian.

(b) Their enemy was disobedience.

c) Celebrate Recovery Principle 4 - "Openly examine and confess my faults…"

i) The prophet exposed the real issue

[10] "You have not obeyed My voice."

ii) Recovery requires ownership.

iii) We stop blaming:

(1) our parents

(2) our spouse

(3) our past

(4) our stress

(5) our triggers

iv) And say: "I contributed to this."

d) Celebrate Recovery Principle 5 - "Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life."

i) God was preparing them for change before He brought deliverance.

ii) Healing requires transformation, not just relief.

iii) God doesn't just want to remove Midian.

(1) He wants to remove the idol that invited Midian.

(a) They were trusting in false gods and in their own understanding.

Principle: God won't just remove the your enemy; He removes the idol that invited it.

e) Celebrate Recovery Principle 6 - "Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness and make amends…"

i) Recovery restores what sin robbed.

ii) Midian stole harvest.

iii) Sin steals:

(1) relationships

(2) trust

(3) finances

(4) peace

f) But when God restores, He rebuilds what was lost.

i) Later in Judges 6, Gideon tears down an altar of Baal before he defeats Midian.

Principle: Before public victory, there must be private cleansing.

5) Wrap-up

a) Sin pushes us into caves.

b) Surrender brings us into calling.

c) Israel thought the problem was Midian.

d) God said the problem was misalignment.

e) And the same God who delivered them then still delivers today.