Listening

Purim is the celebration of the deliverance of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from near certain destruction at the hand of the Jews arch-enemy, Haman (the king's chief advisor) when the nation was ruled by Ahasuerus(aka Artaxerxes). The aspect of Purim that escapes many is that it could've been avoided if only the first king of Israel, Saul, had only been totally obedient to the Lord's instructions, long before . *
You see, hundreds of years before this threat had developed in Persia, God told Saul to wage war against the Amelekites and totally destroy everything and everyone, but Saul was disobedient, keeping Agag, their king, alive, (for a short time, Samuel took care of that!) and apparently others, because Haman was a descendant of these sworn enemies of the Jews:

Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’"
But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:3, 9, 22

"After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes."
Esther 3:1, 6

Deliverance for His people came because of the obedience of Mordechai, the intended original target of Haman's wrath, and Esther, divinely positioned for that exact time.

But there is another part to this story that we need to take to heart about hearing and obeying Godly direction. His Word is hidden in our hearts, administrated by the Holy Spirit, and if we listen to His still small voice, and not to our own fleshly way of thinking, we can avert the consequences of disobedience, which sometimes manifest disastrously many years later.
Beloved, listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him.
Blessed is the person who puts their trust wholeheartedly in the Lord.