WordPress get widget option value

I have a widget that is saving an option perfectly – the problem lies when I want to get the option value on the front end and then use that value to query the posts. How can I get that value from the database? I’ve tried using get_option and because the way the value is stored the array position changes each time.

My code is simply:

 $cjd_length = get_option( 'widget_cjd_list_widget' );

        if( !empty( $cjd_length[3]['length'] ) ) {
                $length = $cjd_length[3]['length'];
        }
        else {
                $length = 3;
        }