More Than We Can Imagine: Trusting the Lord with Our Lives

Good morning brothers and sisters, and aloha!

When I was a teenager, my father was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Polynesian Cultural Center, so I have so many fond memories of coming here. My husband Matt has been coming to Laie since he was a child as his family had a timeshare home on Hukilau. Matt also worked at the PCC as a Japanese tour guide one summer. We are so grateful to be back. This is such a special place with such special people!

It is a privilege to be here today to share with you my love for the gospel of Jesus Christ through words and music.

I want to begin with a question: What do you imagine your life will become? You are at a remarkable point in your life. You are getting an education. You are making decisions about your future. You are discovering your talents and developing your gifts. You are thinking about careers, relationships, families, where you will live, what you will accomplish, and who you will become. Some of you may have a very clear vision of what you want your life to look like. Others of you may have absolutely no idea. And that's okay.

I want to suggest a different question today. Instead of asking, “What am I going to make of my life?” I want you to consider: “What can the Lord make of my life?” Because I testify that The Lord can make so much more of our lives than we could ever make on our own!

Sometimes we have a very specific idea of what our lives might look like. We make plans. We set goals. We work hard. We try to be successful, make good choices and build a good life. And there is nothing wrong with that. But there is something even better than simply creating the best life we can imagine for ourselves. It is learning to place our lives in the Lord's hands.

Proverbs 3:5–6 states: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” [1]

I love that promise. He shall direct thy paths. Not necessarily the path we would have chosen or the path that makes the most sense to us. But the path that the Lord knows will ultimately make our lives more meaningful, more beautiful, and more useful in His hands.

When I was 22 years old, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I was absolutely devastated. My mom was my best friend. I was born 13 years after the rest of her five children, so I had been raised almost as an only child and we were extremely close. I learned the devastating news while on a semester abroad at the BYU Jerusalem Center. When I received that call, I was standing at a payphone on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. I was in the land where the Lord had performed so many miracles, and I knew He could heal my mother—I just thought I had to have enough faith! I prayed and prayed in faith for her recovery, but I started to wonder about how faith works in relation to the Lord’s will.

Before I returned home from Israel, I felt impressed to email my father, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, the following question: “How can we have faith that someone will get well, or something will happen, when we know that everything is dependent upon the Lord’s will?” He responded as follows: “I believe that the only true faith is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we have “faith” in is based on faith or trust in the Lord Jesus Christ (and His Father), that they will do what is best for us (another way of saying according to Their will on our behalf). Therefore, we cannot really say that we have ‘faith’ that the Lord will do what we ask Him to do in any and all circumstances. There will be times when that is not even right for us. If we place our trust in Him, that is what we should do. And He has taught us that we should pray for those we love, and should pray for those who are sick. We do that, and exercise our faith in the Lord, and that is what we are supposed to do.”

My father’s explanation enabled me to put my faith and trust in the Lord as I dealt with my mother’s illness and eventual death nearly one year later. I had prayed for her recovery, but I knew it was the Lord’s will that she return to Him, and I trusted in Him completely. Because I had put my faith in Jesus Christ instead of in her recovery, through the loss of my mother, my faith and testimony were strengthened—and not shattered. And though the experience of losing my mom was still devastating, I know that I will see her again, and this fills me with hope and joy.

I am so grateful for Jesus Christ’s willingness to suffer for our sins and give up His life for us so we can all be redeemed and resurrected. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that we will live again with Him and our loved ones in our heavenly home! This is “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” [2]

Performance: I Know That My Redeemer Lives

When we have faith in Jesus Christ, and trust in Him, everything works out. I am so grateful for the understanding we have as members of The Church of Jesus Christ that we are children of God. Because God is our Father, He knows and loves us. Because God is our Father, we are of infinite worth and have infinite potential to be good and do good! We are divine! And we have a divine destiny!

Understanding our divine identity is incredibly empowering. Knowing that we can rely upon the Lord and that He will guide us along the path that we are supposed to walk, is life changing.

Throughout the ages, the faithful have relied upon the Lord, and He has enabled them to accomplish great things they never could have done on their own. Think about Nephi. Nephi had no prior knowledge of shipbuilding and probably never had ever before even seen a boat, as he had spent his life in landlocked Jerusalem. He didn't have a mortal teacher. But the Lord had continuously taught him what he needed to know. In 1 Nephi 4:6 he recorded, “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” [3] I love that phrase: “Not knowing beforehand.”

You don't have to know beforehand. You don't have to have your whole life figured out. You don't have to know exactly what career you will have, who you might marry, where you will live, what opportunities will come, or how every challenge will resolve. You just have to be willing to let the Lord lead you. If you turn to Him and ask for guidance, The Lord will give you enough light for the next step. And then, when you take that step, He will give you enough light for the step after that.

Nephi didn't know how to build a ship. But the Lord did. And that is an important principle for all of us: You don't have to know how to do everything the Lord may eventually ask you to do. You just need to trust the One who does.

Four years ago, I had an inspired paradigm shift. I had understood for years that the Lord wants me to primarily focus on performing sacred music that brings people closer to Jesus Christ. At the same time, I had been trying to also become well-known and highly regarded enough so that when symphonies like the Boston Pops need a violin soloist, they would invite me to perform with them.

But in the Spring of 2022, while sitting in my living room, suddenly the Spirit very clearly communicated to me that the Boston Pops was never going to call me. My first response was, well that is kind of rude…but then the Spirit reminded me that even if the Boston Pops were to call, they would never invite me to perform a program of Christ-centered music. I knew that was true… so then I thought, “What am I supposed to do with this understanding?” And then immediately into my mind came the very clear idea that I should just hire an orchestra like The Boston Pops to perform a Christ-centered program with me!

I had never ever considered that kind of possibility before. For 25 years, I had patiently (sometimes impatiently) waited for conductors or concert producers to call and invite me to perform for and with them—as concert violinists do—but the Spirit had just told me very clearly, it was time for me to learn to actually become my own concert producer and show promoter, in order to bring live shows that are centered on the Savior to more people throughout the world.

So, I immediately started trying to figure out how to become a production company and successfully pull off concert tours. And I have never worked as hard, been so busy, or felt so overwhelmed and stressed out in my life. But at the same time, I have seen and felt the Lord’s constant hand, guiding, teaching, leading, supporting and blessing me through this scary, insane and incredible feat. As I have trusted in the Lord and His inspiration, He has truly directed my path and I have seen countless miracles along the way.

In 2022, the Lord enabled me to successfully produce my first concert tour as I took our Jenny Oaks Baker & Family Four, “Joy to the World! A Sacred Celebration” Christmas Concert to 10 cities across the United States. Since then, the show has toured to nearly 60 cities across the U.S. and in Canada. Additionally, over the past few years, our Easter production, “The Redeemer: Music on the Life of Jesus the Christ” has been performed in 18 different cities, including a performance at Lincoln Center in New York City.

I never could have done any of this on my own! Over the past four years, when I have been asked about my business model, I have truthfully responded, “Follow the Spirit.” My business-man husband was initially stressed out by this, but as we have seen the inspiration that has come, and the miraculous things that have transpired, we have come to know that truly, all things are possible with the Lord’s help and guidance.

We can trust the Lord. We can rely on Him. He is calling on us to do so and will bless us! We truly “can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth” us! [4]

Perhaps some of you are sitting here thinking: “But I'm not Jenny Oaks Baker.” You don't have to be. Your life, your gifts, and your path don’t need to look like mine. I actually hope they don’t. The Lord has something prepared for you that He does not have in store for anyone else. Your job is not to duplicate someone else's life. Your job is to discover what the Lord wants to make of your life. And sometimes that means being willing to let go of the plan you had in mind for yourself.

I LOVE blessings and miracles! I love looking for them, identifying them, and expressing gratitude to the Lord for them. Looking for blessings and miracles enables us to more readily see the Hand of the Lord in our lives, can fill our souls with joy, and also enables the Lord to bless us with even more blessings and miracles! Hooray! I love how blessings and miracles testify that God is there and He loves His Children.

A few years ago, I experienced a truly incredible miracle. While curling my hair for a music video shoot, I somehow dropped the curling iron and as it was falling, I unthinkingly and very tightly grasped it, wrapping my entire hand around the scalding iron. I immediately felt my palm burning, so I quickly dropped the curling iron but my hand was already very badly burned. I quickly ran it under cold water, and stood there, completely horrified at what had just happened. I was worried that I had burned my hand so badly I would not be able to play the violin ever again. So I started crying out to my Heavenly Father, emotionally pleading with Him to heal my hand and to take away the great pain I was experiencing.

As I prayed, the knowledge that my hand would be healed settled upon me, and I felt inspired to take a picture of my bright red, shiny, sore and burned hand so I would have a record of the miraculous healing that I knew was about to take place. I took this picture and then within 2 minutes the pain started to lessen, 20 minutes later the pain was gone, and an hour later my hand was completely healed without any sign of a burn, blister or scar on my palm. Here is a picture of my miraculously healed hand, taken that same morning. I am so grateful for miracles that remind us that we are loved by our Heavenly Father. When we turn to Him, I testify that He will help us get through every trial we might face in this life!

God is always there, but sometimes we don't receive the miracles we seek. As we exercise the faith to be healed, we also need to cultivate the faith not to be healed. Sometimes the Lord makes more of our lives by changing our circumstances. And sometimes He makes more of our lives by changing us.

As you know, this past summer was the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As part of these celebrations, our family was invited to present our American Mosaic show at Mount Rushmore National Park which is in a remote area of South Dakota.

We spent months preparing for this performance—trucking in from all around the United States the lighting and sound equipment, risers, backstage tents, instruments, a big LED wall, and even a huge generator. We arranged to bring in nearly 30 performers and crew from across the country, and a choir of 46 children had traveled the 10-hour drive from Utah to Mount Rushmore with their families.

On the day of the show, after rehearsing all morning, everything seemed to be all set for this outdoor performance. But thirty minutes before showtime, despite the forecast showing clear skies, it began pouring rain.

So, all the performers gathered backstage and we prayed. Our children’s choir also began singing hymns of supplication to God. We prayed and prayed for the miracle of the rain to stop… but it didn’t stop. So, we prayed again. But the rain continued.

Then my pianist daughter Hannah came to me with an idea: take down everything that couldn’t withstand the rain including all the show lights, the sound equipment, utilize the basic amphitheater security lighting, protect and cover the instruments, invite the audience to sit closer…and perform the show—unplugged. So, our SHOW WENT ON!!!

We lost much of our audience to the rain. Our beautiful set looked completely different. Not quite so beautiful. The LED wall was dark. Our dancers sometimes slipped on the dance floor as they danced. Our choir sang through the drizzle. Our band, including my daughters, guitarist, percussionist, vocal soloist, narrator and I, all performed in the shadows of a little tent. And our loyal audience sat in puddles. Then, during Amazing Grace, the amphitheater lights even went out. So, we performed that song in the dark.

Yet somehow, this performance became one of the sweetest of my life. The Spirit was so incredibly strong. Every performer was smiling throughout—not because the circumstances were easy, but because we felt the Lord’s love and we also were just so grateful we were being blessed to be able to still perform for each other, the audience, and the Lord.

Our narrator, Ben Lomu began the show with these words which I will never forget: “It takes faith to pray for the rain to stop, but it takes even greater faith to stay when the rain doesn’t stop.”

We had prayed for one miracle. But God gave us a different one. He didn’t stop the storm. Instead He gave us the faith, creativity, courage, determination and ability to keep performing despite the storm.

Sometimes the miracle isn’t that the rain stops. Sometimes the miracle is discovering that when you turn to the Lord, you can always make something sweet, memorable, and beautiful in the rain.

And I think that is one of the most important lessons I can share with you today. You will have storms. You will have disappointments. You will have prayers that are answered differently than how you had hoped. And you will have plans that seem to not work out. And when this happens, please DO NOT think that the Lord has abandoned you. One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 2:2: “And God shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.” [5] I testify that if you are turning to Lord, and doing your best to follow Him, He will create beauty out of every storm.

One of the greatest gifts God has given us to enable Him to make more of our lives is the gift of the Holy Ghost. The direction and insight that the Spirit provides to us is invaluable as we strive to navigate our confusing world and walk the path that God would have us walk.

President Russell M. Nelson taught that “The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children. Through the manifestations of the Holy Ghost the Lord will assist us in all our righteous pursuits.” [6] The Spirit can guide your education. Your career. Your relationships. Your creativity. Your decisions. Your service. Your family. Your future. The Lord wants to be involved in your life and He will guide you through the promptings of the Holy Ghost when you turn to Him.

But we must do more than just ask the Lord to guide our lives. God can only reveal His will to us when we are striving to be obedient to His commandments. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin taught: “To open the windows of heaven, we must conform our will to God’s will. Diligent, enduring obedience to God’s laws is the key that opens the windows of heaven.
Obedience enables us to be receptive to the mind and will of the Lord. ‘The Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient’ are those who receive the blessings of revelation through the open windows of heaven.” [7] In Doctrine & Covenants 93:27-28 the Lord declared, “And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments. He that keepeth [God’s] commandments receiveth [light and truth], until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.” [8] And President Dallin H. Oaks has taught, God’s “choicest blessings are reserved for those who obey His laws.” [9]

These blessings include the privilege of turning our lives over to Him and seeing Him work wonders in our lives.

How amazing this is—that the very God of the Universe cares about each of us enough to guide us along our paths every step of the way if we truly turn to Him. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has taught, “While we may look at the vast expanse of the universe and say, ‘What is man in comparison to the glory of creation?’ God Himself said we are the reason He created the universe! His work and glory—the purpose for this magnificent universe—is to save and exalt mankind. In other words, the vast expanse of eternity, the glories and mysteries of infinite space and time are all built for the benefit of ordinary mortals like you and me. Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters.” [10]

It is in the temple where we can come to a greater understanding of our divine identity and potential. President Russell M. Nelson explained, “Time in the temple will help you to think celestial and to catch a vision of who you really are, who you can become, and the kind of life you can have forever. Regular temple [attendance] will enhance the way you see yourself and how you fit into God’s magnificent plan. I promise you that.” [11]

I know that this is true and testify that what the Lord offers through the fullness of His Gospel, is so much more glorious than anything the world can offer! I have been nominated for a Grammy Award and walked the red carpet in Hollywood. That ranks pretty high as far as what the world can offer—but I can testify that walking the red carpet is nothing compared to worthily walking the white carpets in the temple—the Lord’s House.

Walking the red carpet felt exciting at the time, but the excitement was very fleeting and actually left me feeling quite lost and empty. Yes, on the red carpet, I did have all the paparazzi yelling out my name, but it was not because they knew my name or cared anything about me. They were calling out my name because I had written it on the paparazzi’s little white board, and they were calling out my name in order to catch my attention to take my picture. Once I passed the paparazzi point, they wiped my name completely off.

In contrast, the Lord knows each of our names. He never wipes them off! He cares about each of us infinitely. The Lord has declared: “[I will] not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” [12]

The world may offer applause, recognition and maybe even success. But the Lord offers something infinitely greater. He offers hope, peace, covenants, blessings, eternal families, and lasting joy. He offers to take our ordinary, imperfect lives and make them into something far greater than we could ever make on our own.

So, I want to come back to the question I asked in the beginning: What do you imagine your life will become? Maybe you know or maybe you don’t. Maybe your plans have already changed. Maybe you are disappointed, worried or wondering if your dreams are even possible.

Please remember Nephi who declared, “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” [13] You don't have to know beforehand. You don't have to see the whole path or know how your life is going to unfold. You just have to be willing to take the next step with the Lord. President Ezra Taft Benson taught, “ Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.” [14]

So, the question shouldn’t be simply: “What can I make of my life?” The better question is: “What could the Lord make of my life if I would put it completely in His hands?” What could He make of your talents, education, family, disappointments, weaknesses, talents, gifts and your dreams? What could He make of you? The answer is: SO MUCH MORE.

I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know He lives and loves each of us. I know He died for our sins and that we can return to live with Him if we prove worthy. I am so grateful for the temple, and the ordinances therein that enable us to return to live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. I know that this Church is led by a true prophet of God, and I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s true church on this earth. I am so grateful for the teachings of this gospel that help us to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. And I am grateful for the opportunity we each have to place our lives in His hands. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I will end by performing “Amazing Grace.” [15]

Performance: Amazing Grace

Notes:
[1] Proverbs 3:5–6
[2] “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” Hymns, no. 136
[3] 1 Nephi 4:6
[4] Philippians 4:13
[5] 2 Nephi 2:2
[6] Russell M. Nelson,“ Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 94
[7] Joseph B. Wirthlin,“ Windows of Light and Truth,” Ensign or Liahona, November 1995, 76
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 93:27–28
[9] Dallin H. Oaks, “Love and Law,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2009, 26
[10] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “You Matter to Him,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2011, 20
[11] Russell M. Nelson, “Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys,” Liahona, May 2024, 121
[12] Isaiah 49:15–16
[13] 1 Nephi 4:6
[14] Ezra Taft Benson, “Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations,” [Brigham Young University devotional, December 10, 1974], speeches.byu.edu
[15] “Amazing Grace,” Hymns for Home and Church, no. 1010