THE LORD MY VINDICATOR

(PART 2)

By Christopher Quah

In part 1 of The Lord My Vindicator, (https://asianbeacon.org/the-lord-my-vindicator-part-1/) Bala shares his struggles after being falsely accused of bribery. In part two he continues his story, of trust in God to vindicate him finally.

A PRAYER WARRIORS PRAYER

“At this point in life I realised that I may have lost my job and a lot of things but I still had a wonderful and beautiful person who never gave up on me, who was praying day and night. It was my wife. She was my strength and support. I did not know Jesus. But I saw Jesus through her. I also knew the power of Jesus through her. Because every time I almost collapsed she would lay hands and pray and I would rise up again. She used to fast and pray at 3 a.m in the morning. She never stopped praying for me. She would lay hands on the court summons and legal documents and pray. She even had the whole church pray for me,” Bala added.

The Lord My Vindicator
Bala with his wife, children and grandchildren

MY ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS

During 1997, Bala had a wilderness period where he became more drawn to Jesus than the gods he worshiped. Little by little he began to move away from them. Soon he was not worshiping the gods he used to, but neither was He worshiping Jesus. Then one afternoon as Bala was resting, tired after doing tuition classes, he had a vision.

“I was in a dark room and I heard a loud, bold voice cried out “You are neither here or there, you have no God!”. The dark room symbolized my life. The voice was Jesus giving me an altar call. That same evening the cell group came to visit me. I knew that they were God sent. That evening I gave my life to Jesus. My wife had prayed sixteen years for my salvation. And on this day the Lord answered her,” Bala explained.

THE COURT CASES

Bala was charged on the 15/12/1997 at the Sungai Petani Session Court. It was the beginning of a long court battle. The first trial was in a session court. After two years of trial the judge found him guilty. He was sentenced to 2 months’ imprisonment and fined RM 5000. He paid the fine and was allowed a stay of execution till he filed an appeal to the high court. On 15/08/2001 the High Court  Judge allowed him to appeal  but ordered a retrial.

“It was during this time I wanted to give up. My lawyer suggested that I do a representation. I wrote a letter to the Attorney General’s office. I had high hopes that the representation will be accepted. We prayed very hard. The church prayed along with us for a miracle. But in March 2003 I got a reply that my representation had been rejected. I was very disappointed and angry. It was during this moment the Lord reminded me of Jeremiah 29:11,” Bala explained.

He still did not understand what God’s plan was but he submitted to His will. This retrial took another two years. On 29/12/2004 the Session Court judge delivered the verdict of not guilty. Bala was overjoyed. But just a few days later, he was informed that the prosecution had filed an appeal to the High Court. He would face a second-high court trial was fixed for the 24/11/2008. Yet God gave a sign of assurance the day before to Bala.

“Before that day we were at the Saturday service on the 22/11/08. At the ending of the Praise and worship my wife heard three loud cries “VICTORY ! VICTORY ! VICTORY!” And this was not from the church or the worship team because I did not hear them say it,” Bala explained, adding that he and his wife took it as a sign that God was in control. This was confirm by a vision, his wife had in court.

“While we were waiting for the judge to appear, my wife had a vision of someone walking from the right side to the left. He stopped and sat on the Judges seat. He had a crown of Jewels and a long beard. He was wearing a robe. She thought she was imagining a scene from the movie “ Little mermaid”. But she knew it was real because she felt a supernatural peace,” Bala said. To confirm it, the judge declared Bala not guilty.

THE LORD HAD A DIFFERENT PLAN

Unfortunately, the joy and euphoria lasted only a few days. In early January 2009 Bala’s lawyer called to inform him that the prosecution had filed an appeal to The Putra Jaya Court Of Appeal. Yet he was not disappointed as he received a word from God.

“I felt God telling me, that He wanted me to run another race. God spoke through of Romans 8:28. He wanted me to reap something big and good from all this. I did not see His plans but I just trusted Him. With radical faith, we heard all kinds and sorts of opinions and views on how the appeal court verdict could turn out. I held on to the promise that that if He puts me in he will know when to take me out,” Bala said.

THE FINAL BATTLE

The appeal court hearing was fixed for 12th May 2010.

“I carried the Bible into court. Three appeal court judges sat on the bench.  Just as in Daniel there was a fourth person in the furnace. I knew there was a fourth supreme Judge Jesus was on the bench. I confessed that Jesus was my advocate, my judge and savior. The hearing lasted four hours. At the end of the trial the three Judges retired for the deliberation. An hour later they came back again. I can still picture the cold court. The solemn atmosphere. The chief judge began reading the judgement.  Then I heard the statement :

“ Respondent di lepas dan dibebaskan dari pertuduhan menerima suapan rasuah ………”

All three judges found me not guilty of the charge.

On this day I realised what God’s plan had been all the while. He wanted me to go through the full system of justice. All the way to the highest courts in the country. He wanted to give me full and complete vindication. That explained why the prosecution kept appealing even though I was freed by the lower courts,” Bala said finally victorious.

THE LORD’S  PROMISES COMES TO PAST

Bala explained that he already lived a life of miracle for the past 15 years. Now he and his family were beginning to witness His promises coming to past. The first was from Joel 2:25.

“So I will restore to you the years that the  swarming locust has eaten,The crawling Locust, The consuming locust, and the chewing locust. My great army which I have sent among you :”

“I was reinstated to my job in July 2010. They paid back all the salary bonuses and allowances for the past 15 years. I was promoted twice in the remaining years. I settled the RM 190,000 debts with my own earned money. I was blessed with a new car, a dream home and the ability to bless others. God began restoring many things. My first posting was in Sungai Petani the very place where I was arrested. He began honouring me at the place I was dishonoured, putting me among the same people who looked down upon me. Many things had changed. Some people expected me to resign not being able to cope. But the Holy Spirit was my helper. He gave me a spirit of excellence, and boldness to stand for truth,” Bala added on.

The Lord My Vindicator
Bala receiving the excellent service reward
The Lord My Vindicator

In the following years Bala won awards for excellent service. He received an award as ‘’Tokoh Penyelamat hasil’ meaning top tax collector for the year, plus the excellent service award for outstanding performance. In 2017, he also received an Award for Best Auditor. He was even selected to attend A Royal Banquet in conjunction with World Customs Day in Putra Jaya.

“I was provided a special ceremonial uniform, where I sat and dined with King. The Lord reminded me of Psalms 23:5, as I sat there with tears in my eyes.

The Lord My Vindicator
Bala at the royal dinner with the Agong

“You Prepare A Banquet For Me, Where All My Enemies Can See Me; You Welcome Me As An Honored Guest And Fill My Cup To The Brim”

Bala has documented his 15 year ordeal into nine books.  A legacy Bala wants to leave behind as a reminder to anyone reading it that The Lord God is an awesome God.

The Lord My Vindicator
Bala's many books

“People always tell me that if not for the trial I would have been somebody of high position in the department. I would always answer that I never regretted those 15 years in the wilderness. I consider it the best time of my life. It was in this walk that I found Jesus. It was the best thing to happen in my life. I learnt that life without Jesus means nothing, and I should never try to understand God’s plan. One has to live a life of radicle peace, giving thanks to God in all things. He has given us the breath to live to see the day when His promises come to pass,” Bala ends.