Have you ever had to stretch something? I remember wearing a brand new pair of snakeskin cowboy boots on a 3-hour flight and then a 6-hour drive. They were tight. Painfully tight. I couldn't wait to get the home and into the boot-stretcher. I should have never worn them.

The only time we are aware of the need for a stretching is when things get tight. When they get sketchy and we know it.

The last part of our story of Jonah is a story about stretching and the lesson learned. Or hopefully learned.

This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: "Didn't I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. 3 Just kill me now, Lord! I'd rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen."

4 The Lord replied, "Is it right for you to be angry about this?"

5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. "Death is certainly better than living like this!" he exclaimed.

9 Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?"

"Yes," Jonah retorted, "even angry enough to die!"

10 Then the Lord said, "You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?" Jonah 4 NLT

Jonah needed to be stretched. Pretty seriously.

God's count is bigger than our count.

Plain and simple. Jonah couldn't get over himself, his own idea of what redemption looked like (he wanted it to look like retribution), and what it means to be part of God's people. He had his own idea of the world and it didn't match up well with God's vision for the world.