The Widow's Oil

Title: The Widow's Oil: Discovering God's Purpose in the Midst of Grief

Author: Nickcole Byrd

Publisher: Byrd Media LLC

Genre: Self-Help 

Synopsis:

Simultaneously, I had experienced two untimely deaths. The death of my husband, and the death of a season in my life. After 24 years of marriage, God decided that this chapter was done. It was over. And there was nothing I could do to change it.

The Widow’s Oil captures the valley to triumph experience of my life as a faithful ministry leader. Through the inspiration of the bible story of the widow and her small jar of oil, I discover that you can find God’s grace in the middle of disappointment.

The Widow’s Oil looks at the true experience of grief in parallel to God’s word. The bible mentions widows 81 times. I thought in the beginning that my world as I knew it, was beyond repair. But what I found is a new mission where I could help other women who were in mourning to co-create with God their new and next season. My recovery sets me on a new charge to inspire women believers to partner with God in recovery. In this book, I share my weaknesses, through gaining His strength and unveiling God’s heart for all widows. 

My Review:

The Widow’s Oil: Discovering God’s Purpose in the Midst of Grief by Nickcole Byrd. Nickcole is a Grief and Wellness Coach on a mission to help Christian women to navigate grief. Nickcole is also the founder of 700 AD.  A mission designed to defy the statistics that once a woman becomes a widow, on average will die within 14 years from a broken heart.

The Widow’s Oil has a beautifully designed cover that immediately draws the reader into the story. From the title and the design, you know this book is going to be about the widow’s oil. Those who may be unfamiliar with the Bible, will not realize the reference is to the Bible in 2 Kings chapter 4.

In The Widow’s Oil, Nickcole discusses the loss of her husband, the grief, and the lessons that she learned. One was that just because you prayed for something did not mean you would receive it. She always thought that as a Christian, whatever you prayed for in Jesus’ name, you would get. She realized it had to be prayed in God’s will, not our will, and that is a hard lesson to absorb.

Nickcole establishes the point that God has a special place in His heart for widows, noting the word is mentioned eighty-one times in the Bible. She discusses several of the more “popular” widows in the Bible and highlights the example of how He provided for them. She also mentions how we are to also take care of widows and orphans.

There are quite a few quotable points that Nickcole delivers. She says, “there is life after death, and you still have a life to live. You just need to make the decision to live it.” This is a huge point, not just for grief, but for most things in life.

The Widow’s Oil is based upon biblical commands but has stemmed from Nickcole’s own grief, and her desire not to become a statistic. This book is saturated in scripture and grounded in research. Nickcole has cited her sources in the resources section at the end of this book.

This book will be best received by those who have recently become a widow or have suffered a loss in some way. The story and its numerous examples will be a help for those going through the extensive road of grief and trying to recover from their loss. It is easy to read and exceptionally edited.

 Thank you to Reedsy Discovery for the opportunity to read this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 3/5 stars. Review posted here on Reedsy site.