When the Fountain of Effort Runs Dry
Updated: Sep 23
Wells of Salvation
Artwork inspired by Isaiah 12:3
Keiko Yamada
Acrylic Painting on Canvas
36 x 24 inch
In this artwork, two contrasting images are depicted.
Below, powerful golden water flows through a mysterious, almost dreamlike forest, as though it is about to surge toward us.
Above, dry, deep-blue fragments swirl through the air.
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This artwork was inspired by Isaiah 12:3 in the Bible:
“You will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation.”—Isaiah 12:3
That is why I titled this piece “Wells of Salvation.”
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When we hear the word salvation, it may sound religious, formal, or even somewhat negative.
But haven’t we all experienced moments when we wished we could be “saved” from something—to escape, to break free, or simply to get away from a situation?
I certainly have.
Especially when I face something that makes me painfully aware of my own limitations, I can find myself desperately wanting to escape that situation or place.
When I was learning English and struggling to see results, the longer it took, the more I wanted to run away from studying altogether.
When I felt frustrated by my own inability to help a friend who was suffering.
When commuting in a country where standing in line for a train is not the norm, and I felt as though I were being physically and emotionally crushed by the crowd.
Sometimes, we can push through these things with enough effort.
But what is truly difficult is when the “fountain of effort” itself runs dry.
We may try to draw water from it one more time, only to discover that the well is completely, painfully dry.
At times like these, even a friend saying, “Keep going!” can feel like more pressure when we are already doing everything we possibly can.
Through experiences like these, I began to realize something.
The Blueprint We Draw for Our Own Lives
Without even realizing it, perhaps many of us carry the pressure of believing:
“If I can just follow the right blueprint for my life and make it work, I will finally be happy.”
For example:
“If I get into a good university and find a good job, I’ll finally be happy.”
“If I can just keep hiding the mistakes I made in the past, I can maintain my place here.”
“If I can correctly figure out God’s plan for my life and accomplish it through my own strength, everything will work out.”
Even Christians can fall into this trap: believing that we must correctly discern God’s plan and then accomplish it through our own strength. Little by little, we can lose the very joy that was supposed to come from following God.
These are the different “blueprints” we draw for our lives.。
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Of course, some people may succeed in bringing the blueprint they have drawn to life.
But in reality, things do not always go according to plan. Sometimes the blueprint we carefully created is shattered.
Or perhaps, after years of struggle, we finally achieve the life we thought we wanted—only to find ourselves wondering,
“Why am I not as happy as I thought I would be?”
The dry blue fragments swirling through the air represent this experience.
For this artwork, I intentionally used a color called Prussian Blue.
In the 19th century, Prussian Blue became associated with the cyanotype process, a technique used to reproduce drawings and plans. It was later widely used by architects and engineers to reproduce technical drawings. These blue reproductions eventually became known as “blueprints.”
That is why the fragments of Prussian Blue in this artwork represent a blueprint that someone once believed was right—but has now been shattered.
Whether it is our career, parenting, education, relationships, or something else, when the blueprint we were convinced was right suddenly falls apart, we can experience tremendous despair.
And when, in the middle of that despair, even our “fountain of effort” runs dry—
what can we turn to then?
Another Blueprint
As I was thinking about this, I happened to be looking for an electrical outlet to charge my phone—as we naturally do—and suddenly I wondered:
“What is the equivalent of an electrical outlet for a human being?”
What if, instead of drawing our own blueprint and trying to complete it by ourselves, there is Someone greater than us who already has the answer?
That question began to take root in me.
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The Bible was what eventually gave me an opportunity to explore that answer.
At this point, some of you may be thinking, “The Bible?!” You may even feel a little resistant to the idea.
But let me share a little of my own experience.
The Bible does not portray only the beautiful side of humanity. It also describes the darker parts of us—jealousy, hatred, greed, conflict, deception, and selfishness—without trying to make them look better than they are.
We may believe that we should love someone, yet find ourselves hating them instead.
We may know that we should take responsibility, yet find ourselves blaming someone else.
We may genuinely want to celebrate someone else’s success, yet feel jealous and think,
“But I worked harder than they did.”
I have experienced these contradictions within myself as well.
And as I continued reading the Bible, I began to discover something:
The Bible does not simply point out the broken and messy parts of humanity.
It also points us toward a “well of salvation” that God has prepared for people like us.
A Hidden Message
There is a particular shape hidden within Wells of Salvation that represents this “well of salvation.”
It only becomes visible when light shines through the artwork from behind.
This is what the painting looks like when sunlight is shining through it from the back.
Can you see the shape emerging?
It is a cross.
When viewed this way, the dry Prussian Blue fragments swirling through the air almost seem to point toward the cross.
In the Bible, the cross represents the brokenness and sin of humanity, as well as the separation from God that resulted from it.
According to the Bible, we were originally designed to live in relationship with the God who created us—the God who can give us life and joy that never run dry.
But the Bible tells the story of Adam and Eve, the first humans, choosing to turn away from God and follow their own way.
In doing so, humanity became separated from that never-ending source of life.
As a result, we now live in a world where our relationship with God is broken.
When we come face-to-face with our own contradictions and brokenness, or when the blueprint we created for ourselves is shattered, it can feel as though the only well we have left to return to is our own fountain of effort.
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But the cross has another meaning.
And this is where hope enters the story.
God’s Blueprint
The cross was not an idea that suddenly appeared during the time of Jesus.
It lies at the center of God’s plan of salvation woven throughout the entire Bible.
The Bible is commonly divided into the Old Testament, written before Jesus came, and the New Testament, written during and after the time of Jesus.
Throughout the Old Testament, there are repeated promises and prophecies about God sending a Savior—the Messiah.
One of these is found in Isaiah 53.
In the same book of Isaiah that inspired this artwork through Isaiah 12:3, we find a prophecy describing a suffering Savior—written hundreds of years before Jesus actually came.
There are also many other passages in the Old Testament that Christians understand to have been fulfilled through Jesus Christ.
It is almost as though a single blueprint had been drawn long before the final picture appeared.
So why did the Savior have to die on a cross?
The Bible speaks of a separation between humanity and God that human effort alone cannot repair.
Because of humanity’s rebellion and brokenness, there is a gap between us and God. The Bible teaches that, on the cross, God Himself took upon Himself the cost of restoring that relationship—a cost that we could never pay on our own.
At the cross, we see both a love so great that we cannot fully comprehend it and a God who does not simply ignore the reality of sin.
To human eyes, Jesus dying on a cross may have looked like weakness or defeat.
But the Bible tells us that this was actually at the very center of God’s plan of salvation.
And Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, rose again on the third day.
His resurrection demonstrates God's power over even death itself.
And through that resurrection, a way of salvation was opened—a way that continues to offer us hope like an inexhaustible well of living water.
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Let’s return to the question we began with:
“What is the source I am drawing from as I keep going?”
While we spend our lives trying to complete the blueprints we have drawn for ourselves, the Bible tells a story of a God who already had a blueprint for our salvation—and who carried it out Himself.
Perhaps, then, the question we need to ask in order to truly flourish and live as the people we were created to be is not simply:
“Should I keep trying, or should I give up?”
but rather:
“What is the source I am drawing from as I keep going?”
Instead of relying only on our own well of effort, what if we learned to draw from God’s well?
To receive new strength from that source, and then take another step forward.
The Bible teaches that this can become a path toward rediscovering the fullness of who we were created to be.
An Invitation to Draw from the Well of Salvation
When Jesus Christ came to earth, He said:
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow deep within him.”—John 7:37–38
Jesus Christ dying on the cross may have looked like weakness to human eyes.
But it was the way God Himself provided for us to be restored to relationship with Him.
So I want to return once again to this question:
“What is the source I am drawing from as I keep going?”
With this question in mind, I would also like to share a piece of music with you.
It is my arrangement of the hymn “As the Deer.”
As I arranged this hymn, I pictured a deer that is desperately thirsty, longing for water, and then finally drinking deeply until it is satisfied.
I arranged this piece during a season when I was experiencing burnout myself.
At that time, I had fallen into a way of living where I was constantly trying to work hard in order to gain approval—from God and from people.
But during that season, I came to understand something:
What I needed was not to keep digging my own well through greater effort, but to draw from the abundant, overflowing well of love that has already been given to us through Jesus Christ.
My hope is that, even today, the God who knows each of our deepest thirsts and is able to satisfy them would pour His blessing into your life.
May you discover that you do not have to keep drawing from an empty well alone.
There is another source.
A well that does not run dry.
A well of salvation.
(You can also listen to this song on Spotify or any major music streaming services!)
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Thank you for Reading. God bless you!
About the Writer
Keiko Yamada is an artist, pianist, and writer who creates art and music inspired by the Bible. Through her creative work, she explores life's deepest questions and the hope she has found in Jesus Christ.
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