What if we got what we asked for?

One of the biggest questions that seem to continually pop up throughout my life and most other Christ followers I know is the question of "What is God's will for my life?"
As I was reading through Genesis 6:9-7:1 today, I came across an interesting sentence in which God is giving instructions to Noah to build the ark, and then says the following in v. 17;

"I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish."

Noah's response in v. 18 goes like this;
"Wow. Um...excuse me God, let's back up a second. Did you just explain your plan to me...and did I hear your right? Because I gotta admit, that scares the crap out of me..."

Ok v. 18 I made up :). But seriously, what on earth could have gone through Noah's head at hearing this? I'm sure a lot of gratitude, thankfullness, and humility as he understands that his own family will be saved. But what about the fear, anxiety, worry? I mean, God just flat out told him his plans and they weren't exactly comforting. Noah was about to face the biggest challenge of his entire life, and he gets to hear just about every detail in advance...except why. And except what would happen afterwards. And except where they would go or what they would do when it was all over.

What if God really did answer us they way we want him to when we ask what His plan for our life is? What if he laid it all out, told us about all the trials and challenges we would face? What if we knew in 5 years we would be diagnosed with cancer? What if we knew the man we were about to marry would die tragically young in a car accident? What if we knew our second child would be born with a life-changing disease? What if we knew the job we took today would lead to an extramarital affair by next year?
Would knowing those things really give us peace?

I think we don't really want to know God's plan for our life is. No question about it, the ark was a miracle, with a happy ending, and fulfilled the grand purposes of God... and if we let him, God can perform miracles just as great in our own lives. But if we knew them in advance, if we truly got the answer we wanted to our prayers, I think we would be so shocked and stunned at the scale of the miracle he has in store for us that we would never be able to fulfill them...instead we would be paralyzed in fear, anxiety, and worry just thinking about it! It's not our fault, our own humanness can't stand the glory of God...we would crumble at the mere thought of what God would have us do. So instead, we don't get to know...we trust, we obey, we get to see just one small step at a time because God knows that's the real answer to our prayer.

I wonder what he's getting ready to do in 2009!