How a Fire Goes Out

Over the past 5 months, we have been clearing a fence for replacement. I hired someone last September for the job. He said it would only take a day or two. He underestimated his ability to do the job with the equipment that was available to him. I don't even know how many hours it finally took. Along the way, there was a broken down tractor in my yard, wrong things dug up and barbed wire found in unusual places. 

We seeded the area a few weeks ago, and are now down to burning the brush and reinstalling the fence. My neighbor told me he would install the fence if I paid for the supplies. Done. [Happy Dance!] Saturday, I was finally able to get a burn permit and three of us worked all day to burn the 6 piles. At 9:30 last night, the rains began and we put out the two remaining fires, or so we thought. This morning, smoke/steam seeped out of those two. Somewhere deep underneath, wood remained with its hot coals still smoldering. 

Proverbs 26:20 Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.

In searching the online Bible for the word 'fire', I found this verse very interesting. A talebearer would be a gossiper. Strife could be arguments, tensions, stress, etc. It seems obvious that a fire would go out with no wood, but I never really thought about arguments, strife, or stress going away with no gossip. I need to spend some time making sure I'm not keeping these fires burning and causing strife for anyone.