An Upper Room With Two Views

The one sentence that has haunted all of my days is this: I wasn’t there. For you to understand the importance of these words I will tell you my story. My name is Daniel and I have always been zealous for God. I joined John the Baptist in the hope that the time of nation-wide freedom had come. But I didn’t stay with him because I saw something greater: His Name was Jesus.

I became one of His followers, but I was impatient for Him to restore the throne to Israel. I was about to leave Him and move on to something else, but then He was killed. That wasn’t much in itself, many people are killed by Romans, but this was different because after I saw Him buried…I talked with Him. He had risen from the dead! That next month was one of excitement for me because I was sure that I had found the cause that would bring quick power. But then He took us up to a hill and left in cloud, telling us to wait.

            I hate waiting.

But we went to Jerusalem to do as He said. All 500 of us went to the upper room to pray so that the promised Power would come…but it didn’t. I had hoped that it would come in the first hour. But no such luck. I hoped it would be in the next twenty-four. But it never happened. I was there for three whole days fasting and praying, but nothing ever came.

So I gave up. To my eternal shame I left, but I still planned to pray for the Power when I had the time. For surely God was pleased with me for seeking Him! The next week was a busy one as I worked in my shop in Jerusalem. I prayed a little bit every day for that Power, but it still never came. But someone else must have gotten it, because a few days later there was a noise that sounded like a storm in the Mediterranean Sea that filled all of the city streets with a crashing roar and the sound of men’s voices in different languages bounced off the crowded buildings till all Jerusalem seemed to shake! I ran to see what had happened and found a multitude of people listening to Peter, of all people, share the gospel!

There was a power in that place that you could feel.

A power that I did not have.

A power that could have changed every day of my life, but I missed by a week.

And it was that day that I first whispered those words that now haunt every breath:

I wasn’t there.

I have looked back on my life and am filled with an overpowering thankfulness concerning what the Lord has done in me! I could never have done it alone, but I received the power on one day so many years ago.

My name is Zacharias and I was a Levite serving in the Temple. I was faithful in each menial task and I thought my life was planned out before me like Levitical laws, that is until Jesus came. He changed everything and I followed Him. But after He resurrected people thought that He was going to rule the world, not leave in a cloud. But leave in a cloud He did and He told us to wait. To go to Jerusalem to wait for the Promise of the Father. None of us knew what this Promise was, but that it would be Power.

So we all went to the upper room in Jerusalem and began to fast and pray. I hoped that the breakthrough would come soon, but it didn’t. Hours began to melt into days as our numbers shrank. The first few days I paced back and forth shouting to see the Promise fulfilled, then I was on my knees rocking back and forth as I wept. And I confess, I was more than once tempted to leave. It would have been so easy to go back to the Temple and return to the routine, but there was something stronger in my spirit that cried out for that Power. And I somehow knew that life wouldn’t be worth the living if I didn’t have it, so I stayed.

 Soon my knees were purpled with bruises and my eyes were dry, so I sat down in the corner and whispered prayers while my stomach felt as empty as the Temple’s offering bucket during the tax collector’s visit. Every time I looked up there were less people in the room, but I didn’t leave. I couldn’t, because I had to have the Promise!

And when I felt like everything had been sapped out of me, it happened. The room began to shake as if a volcano was nearby and a sound violent as a Mediterranean Sea storm roared until I thought the room would explode… then the Fire came! A blazing orb of molten gold and bronze divided into whips of flame that floated over our heads. A violent shaking overtook my body until cracking point and that liquid Fire filled me… and I felt HIM for the first time.

The Promise of the Father.

The Power.

The Holy Spirit!

A new strength overtook me and all of us ran out into the street to dance with joy while a new song of praise in a language I had never known filled my mouth. I soon realized that what appeared to be a mob was surrounding us, but I wasn’t afraid. Neither was anyone else, especially Peter who got up to speak to the crowds. Peter of all people! That day 3,000 were saved, but the power never stopped. Why? Because I was there!

The real question is, where will you be when it is time to persistently wait for your Promise?

Will you leave? Or will you be there?