You get what you want/deserve

This is the lesson I learned in my recent thinking about Jonah and the Whale.

God says, "Jonah, go to guys who are really evil and try to get them to repent."
Jonah says, "How about--no?" Then he goes to hide in the belly of a boat headed the opposite way.
God says, "So, Jonah, you want to hide? Okay, you can hide." And he sends a huge storm to scare the people on the boat bad enough that they will toss a prophet overboard. Then he sends a giant fish so Jonah can continue to hide in the belly of something, and really limit his chances of having to go to Ninivea.

Then Jonah repents, blah, blah (which is important in real life, but for the purposes of this argument it gets a blah, blah.) He goes to the really wicked guys, and low and behold it isn't as bad as he had hoped. He goes up on a hill to watch it get bad, and it doesn't. God says "Oh, you want to see someone suffer, huh?" and He sends a worm to destroy the only shade, and Jonah suffers.

I am not saying God is cruel, in fact the opposite. I'm saying he knows us, and how to teach us, and mold us. And the story of Jonah is a cautionary tale of making sure all your desires are righteous.