“All You Need Is One Yes: Faith When Everyone Says No”

What do you do when 134 doors close? When rejection feels louder than God’s promise? In this powerful episode, we unpack the unbelievable story of Fernando Mendoza — a 2-star recruit turned Heisman winner who led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship.

But this isn’t just a football story — it’s a faith story. A reminder that God specializes in overlooked people, closed doors, and impossible odds.

We connect Mendoza’s journey to biblical underdogs like David, Joseph, Gideon, and Esther — ordinary people chosen by an extraordinary God.

If you’ve been told “no,” overlooked, underestimated, or discouraged, this episode will reignite your faith and remind you that God’s plan doesn’t depend on human approval.

 Scriptures: 1 Samuel 16, Genesis 50:20, Judges 6, Esther 4:14, Hebrews 11 

👉 Rejection is not God’s redirection.
 👉 Closed doors are not the end of your story.
 👉 Being overlooked by people does not mean you are overlooked by God.

 👉 The worst thing isn’t failing…
 👉 The worst thing is never trying. 

 👉 “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

 When everyone says no, God only needs one yes.

Fernando Mendoza went from overlooked to Heisman winner — but this story is about more than football… it’s about faith, obedience, and trusting God when doors close.

Sis, don’t quit.
 Don’t settle.
 Don’t let rejection rewrite your destiny.

🎙️ New episode out now
 “All You Need Is One Yes”

#FaithOverFear #ChristianPodcast #TrustGod #UnderdogStory #Purpose #KeepGoing #UnrelatedSisters #GodsPlan

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:01

Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your mercy and your blessings and your grace that you show us every day. We have quite a story to tell today, Lord Jesus. And let's we pray that people who need to hear this story, that need to know that they are enough, that they are blessed by you, that they matter to you, that they matter and they are loved, that they hear this story today, Lord Jesus. Um it's a good story, and I am grateful that you're giving me the opportunity to share it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So welcome back. And um first and foremost, I owe y'all some apologies. Um with the weather here in in Georgia uh this past week. Uh I loaded up and took all my equipment with me, and I went to stay at a hotel because of work, and um then realized I couldn't upload my episode from the laptop that I took. Um, I didn't know how. Um, so I recorded the episode, had all intentions of uploading it, um, lost it. Uh it was an experience. Um, so I do apologize. Um, I'm gonna do better. Uh, I thank y'all for the ones that do listen to me every week. Uh I am uh gonna change and start uploading on Sunday afternoons instead of Friday. That gives me an extra day um when things go crazy at work. Um a little bit of extra time to get uploaded so that I can start uploading every week again. Um, I also am praying that God sends uh people to talk with me so that it's not just me by myself. Um, but today's story um it hit home a little bit for me. Um, you know, I I still suffer with this sometimes, I think. Um I don't know, you know, I think it's something that we all suffer with, it's something that we have all dealt with for sure. So, you know, how many times how many times have do you have to be told no before you start to believe? Um, before you start believing that that's what you're supposed to be told, right? Is no. Um, you know, how many times, you know, have you ever been overlooked or passed up, ignored, and wonder if God has forgotten about you? So um today I want to talk football. If anyone that knows me knows I am a Dahard Georgia Bulldog fan, um love love the Georgia Bulldogs, but uh we're gonna talk about a story um from a young man named Fernando Mendoza. Um and if you don't know who he is, he is the quarterback that led Indiana to the national championship. You know, uh his story feels like a like a hallmark story straight out of um the after-school specials that we used to watch when we were kids, you know, but it's a real story. So um Fernando was he had 134 schools tell him no. Um, told him he wasn't good enough to be a quarterback. He wasn't recruited, it felt like nobody wanted him. Even his hometown school passed on him. But, you know, it just takes one yes to change everything. You know, it does. It just takes one person, one one football program, one, one coach, one teacher, one friend to say yes. And before we even get into the football part, I need y'all to hear this. I need whoever's listening, whoever this story is for today, I need y'all to hear this. Rejection is not God's redirection. Just because you're directed doesn't mean that God is telling you to move on. Sometimes He's just telling you that's not the right door. Uh closed doors are not the end of your story. There's going to be a lot of closed doors and there's going to be a lot of shut windows, but eventually you get to where you're supposed to be. And being overlooked by people doesn't mean you're being overlooked by God. Um, and that's hard. Patience is hard, right? Waiting around is hard. Trying to figure out the next step is hard. But if you sit patiently and listen, he'll tell you where to go. In Psalms 34, 19, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them. So your no might be setting you up for something bigger than you can ever imagine. Um, so let's talk about Mendoza's story just a little bit. Okay. Uh, 17 years old. Uh, all he wants to do is play football. All he wants to do is go to college and play football. Uh, he's sent highlights out to colleges. He's he's drove to 18 different college campuses, um, and he's had zero offers. Now, Yale had offered him an academic scholarship, but Yale's not known for their football, and all he's ever wanted to do was play football. Um, you know, he was told to know his place. He was told that the NFL was not a realistic um plan for him, and he was told to be grateful for what he did have. But he knew. He knew deep inside of him that that's what he was supposed to do. He knew he was supposed to play football. So, you know, the worst things isn't failing. The worst thing is to never try, right? If if you know, you know. Uh Joseph in Genesis 37 through 50, Joseph was rejected by his brothers. He was thrown in a pit, he was sold into slavery, he was forgotten in a prison, but God never forgot who he was. In Genesis 50, 20, what you meant for evil, God meant for good. Maybe your season feels like Joseph's pit, but God is working behind the scenes. Waiting doesn't mean wasted. And, you know, we've talked we talked a lot about the waiting season last season. Uh I felt like most of this, most of the time I've been doing this podcast, I was in a season of waiting. And we've talked a lot about waiting, waiting on God, waiting for the next step, waiting to see what was next. And sometimes it's not about the waiting, it's just about the listening. So, you know, uh, Mendoza finally got a call two weeks before signings, and Cal offered him a spot on their team. Out of 134 schools, one finally said yes. Even though he was the third string quarterback, he was part of the scout team, so he never actually got to get on the field to play football. He had no playing time. Uh, when he finally did get to start, he lost his first four starts. He was sacked 41 times in those four starts, and critics said he wasn't ready. They said he just couldn't do it. Yet he kept showing up. And sometimes that's what it takes. Sometimes it's not a one and done, you know. Um, I've told the story of how this podcast got started. And, you know, going to my husband and saying, Hey, I want to do a podcast, and he's like, Are you sure? You know, you know, and I've learned a lot about myself over this last year doing this podcast. And um when things get hard, I get lazy, or when it doesn't go the way I think it should, I have a hard time. And I think that's why I've struggled so much with putting out content. Um, it's been hard. It's hard doing this by myself. It's so much easier when somebody's sitting across the table having somebody to talk to.

SPEAKER_00: 9:03

Oh, but when it's just me and God sitting here, I'm not always the best listener.

SPEAKER_01: 9:12

You know, in Zechariah 4.10, it says, do not despise these small beginnings. Do not despise these small beginnings. You know, David was overlooked too in 1 Samuel 16. They didn't even invite David to the anointing, but God said, Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. God sees what people miss. Your quiet season is preparing you for what's next. Uh sometimes we have to do obedience over logic. And I um I have our I have a hard time with this. Sometimes I have a hard time with this, I think, because I think about what's next, or I think about what ifs. And if is a very big word in the English language, and if stops us from doing a lot of things when if we would just trust him, if shouldn't even be part of our vocabulary. Uh you know, Mendoza leaves Cal State, transfers to Indiana. And Indiana is the longest program in history of losing. Indiana is a losing program in history. It's the longest, it's the losingest program in history. People called him crazy, but he had but God had gave him peace over it. He knew that's where he was supposed to go. And the coach told him, I'm going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible. You know, and that's what God does. He's that coach standing there saying he is going to make us the best of who we are. Gideon in Judges 6, Gideon said, I'm the weakest. My family is the least. I am not qualified. But God said, I am with you. Sometimes obedience looks foolish to people, but faith listens to God, not opinions. In Judges 6, God Gideon said, I am the weakest. My family is the least. I am not qualified. But what did God say? God said, I am with you. Obedience looks foolish to others, but faith listens to God and not opinions. Let's remember that today. As we wake up today, as we move on to the next hour, as we move on to the next day. Let's let's remember that. God said, I am with you. Uh you know, Mendoza didn't only just struggle to get to where he wanted to be with football, but his mom had MS. She was in a wheelchair, but his mama was his why. Right? I mean, everybody has to have a why while we do the things we do.

SPEAKER_00: 12:31

Um why, why, why, you know, um and sometimes I wonder, you know, what my why is.

SPEAKER_01: 12:48

And all I can do is remember the grace and the peace that he has given me and the love that he allowed me to feel from my son. And so at the end of the day, you know, Dylan is my why. He's why I've wanted to be a better person, why I wanted to be a better mom. Plus this unmistakable joy and peace that I have with the way my life is and the way I deal with the way life comes, is my why. Uh in the story, uh Fernando said he played for his mom, he helped raise money for her, and he served others in the process. And you know, that's all kingdom. That's all kingdom. In 2 Corinthians 12, 9, my grace is sufficient for you.

SPEAKER_00: 13:44

God turns pain into purpose, and your story is bigger than your successes.

SPEAKER_01: 13:59

You know, um and and you know, it's one of those things that it makes you it makes you wonder sometimes, right? It makes you um wonder about what life is, it makes you wonder what goes next. But you know, the victory, God gets the glory. And if you can't give God the glory in the victory, then then you're you're doing it for the wrong reasons. So let's talk about what happened a couple weeks ago. So Indiana, the most losing this team in history, won 16 out of 16 games last season. They won the national championship over my the University of Miami. Fernando won a high became a Heisman trophy winner. He's the first Cuban American to become a Heisman trophy winner.

SPEAKER_00: 15:10

He did his speech in Spanish honoring his grandparents, and it was God's faithfulness in Ephesians 3.20.

SPEAKER_01: 15:26

God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think. Fernando never gave up, he kept his hope and his faith, and he continued to push and to listen and to have peace with God. And God gave him what he wanted. He didn't give it to him the day he asked for it, he didn't give it to him the next day, but he did give it to him a few years later. So I have some questions for you. What doors are you afraid to knock on? What's going on? What has God been telling you to do? What are you scared to listen for? What dreams have you buried because someone told you no? You know, um, and I've talked about it, but when I first got promoted to my position um about first year that I got my store bonus, um, I was super excited. That was the most money I'd made in one time ever. I was gonna start a nonprofit because that's what I wanted to do. And why wouldn't God let me do that? Right? It's for the good of the community, it's for the good of the kingdom. It was gonna help people. And every door I knocked on was a no, or every door I reached out to didn't reach back, you know, and um I didn't bury that dream when I finally gave it to Jesus, when I finally gave that dream to God, it wasn't me building a nonprofit, but it was me helping build nonprofits, and that's what I've done. And I'm at peace with that. And then my last question is is where are you letting fear decide your future? What's next? And don't be afraid. Have peace with God and jump feet first. Remember, your ranking doesn't define you, your start doesn't determine your finish, and God's yes is louder than your than every no you've ever heard. I hope that Fernando Mendoza's story has inspired you as much as it has inspired me to move forward, to listen to what's next from God, to find peace in what he wants from us. Dear Father God, we thank you today for reminding us that rejection does not define us, that you do. God, for the women and men listening who feel overlooked, for the ones who've been told no too many times, for the ones who's tired of trying, I pray you would renew their strength. Lord, help them to trust in you and in the waiting. Lord, help them to walk by faith when the path doesn't make sense, and help them to believe again. God, give them courage to knock on the doors again, to dream again, to hope again. Remind them that you specialize in the underdog, that you chose the unlikely, that you wrote the best comeback stories ever. Just like you did for Joseph or David or Gideon or even Fernando. Let them know today they are not forgotten, they are not behind, and that they are right on time. We trust you, Lord, we surrender our plans to you. We choose faith over fear in your mighty name. Amen. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. Uh, please follow and like us on whatever area podcast that you listen to. Uh, please go. To our Facebook page. Follow us on our Facebook page. Please comment and ask any questions that you have. We just thank you for listening to us today, and we hope that you find as much peace and as much grace in today's story as we did. Please stay inspired. We'll hear from you next week.