Unreliable?

Oh no, not again! I thought thismorning.
It was a cold wet morning and we were in a rush to get ready. My four year old goes to a preschool one morning a week and we have to be out the door around 8:15. I bundled the children up warmly and pulled their shoes on and headed out the door. When I unlocked the car I noticed the central locking wasn't working. Uh oh, not a good sign. I tried starting the car and sure enough--a flat battery.
This is not the first time this has happened. At least this time I didn't quite have the children all buckled in the car!
One time we had to miss a birthday party because our car had a flat battery.
If one door is not shut quite properly (with little kids shutting doors it happens often), the car runs out of battery. I have learned to lock the doors straight away, because it doesn't lock if the doors aren't shut properly and then I know to check the doors. But this time the doors were locked. However, the central locking doesn't work for one door, and this was the door that wasn't shut properly. So the car had still locked.
Because it runs out of battery so easily, it is unreliable.
It's annoying when you have to depend on something that is unreliable!
Unfortunately people can be just as unreliable.
Proverbs 25:19 says  Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
There are times I've had to rely on people for help and they haven't turned up on time or they've backed out at the last minute. It's very frustrating! Now I don't like to depend on people as I'm afraid it will happen again and I'll be left in a predicament.
Are you reliable? Can people trust you?
Maybe you have a job. Would your boss say you are reliable? Do you turn up on time? Can he/she guarantee you will be there?
Maybe you do babysitting. Do you have to be reminded? Do you arrive ten minutes late? When you are a mother, you will realize how difficult it is when you need to be going out the door and your babysitter is still not there and you don't know where she is!
Maybe you are involved in ministries. Are you reliable? Do you turn up? Can people count on you? When you promise to do something, do you do it? Does your word mean something?
True, sometimes thing do happen out of your control. A flat tyre, sickness, getting stuck in a traffic jam etc. But people should know that if you don't turn up on time something must be wrong as it's just not like you. They shouldn't think Oh no, not again. They shouldn't have to tell you to be there half an hour early with the hope that you might get there on time!
Reliableness is a very important quality to have.