12 January

Today's the day when in 2001 Sven Goran Eriksson became coach of the England football team. Known for his calmness under pressure and widely dubbed The Iceman he became the first foreigner to occupy that role. At his first news conference he told journalists he was confident that England would qualify for the 2002 World Cup, despite its position at the bottom of its group, below Albania, following two disastrous matches. And he kept his world. Under his leadership England reached the quarter-finals of that World Cup, and the following one in 2006. The question of whether the team under-achieved during his time as coach will be endlessly debated and some of his judgments will be forever questioned. Eriksson himself never gave much away about his strategy; in fact his reserved, thoughtfulness in interviews (unforgettably impersonated by Alistair McGowan) will remain one of the hallmarks of this inscrutable Swede.

It can be uncomfortable when people don't give away as much of their thinking as we wish they would. It creates a sense of mystery around them and makes us realise we don't know everything about them. That's just how it is with God. He has revealed so much about his love and mercy and justice. But we can't pretend we know everything about him. For some people this is a cause of frustration, but in the letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul makes this fact into a song of praise. This is what he writes:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counsellor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory for ever! Amen.

Okay. We don't know everything about God. But he has shown us enough for us to be sure we can walk with him every day – now and for ever.