All our members have been outstanding in this thread/topic. I am grateful.
I'm going to use some liberty in commenting, only Because of seeing so much Integrity displayed here, within Forum Guidelines.
My opinion: Osteen is a false teacher. They are everywhere, and so are their followers (who quote them to us. from both secular & religious sources). From a spiritual source, If we want to see God's actual compassionate response to grief, look at Jesus. When He came upon people mourning the death of Lazarus, eyewitness accounts say "Jesus wept". Even though He raised Lazarus from the dead afterwards, His hearts' response was to weep with those who were weeping. He was described as "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" in scripture prophesy, long before He was born.
Throw Osteen out of your mind. He shared no similarities with God. He does not even use any appropriate scriptures, when talking about grief in his book. He is deficient. I will determine not to dwell on him.
Unfortunately, bereft people are always hurt by terrible quotes (even from well-meaning loved ones). We are already in pain, before hearing words. The only way to cope with it, is to toss those words in a trash can. Replace them with something truthfully comforting. It is not fair that we have to do that, but it is our best alternative. Just as "grief will change your address book", it will transform any of our cliches into demonstrations of loving comfort. Silence is indeed Golden.
BIG HUGS TO ALL who posted here, especially lovesloons.

I wonder what that actually means - to care for the widows and orphans. Seems like everyone zips over that one. Seems like I am doing everything on my own, and it's tough. I guess it goes back to the assumption that I'm "over" this? I think I get more moral support from my favorite cashier at the grocery store than I do from those who really know me! What it is is that she is genuine when she asks her customers how they are doing. On the other side of the spectrum, there are people who just avoid asking about what happened. I don't talk about it as much as I used to, but I guess I expect something more than them acting like he never existed.

I did have someone make that type of comment to me in the months after my husbands death. I was stunned, hurt and shamed by that statement. But then I thought about it and realized she did not know me, or what I was going through. I placed no value on her statement. You need to grieve your own way and not one person has the right to tell you what that looks like.
Prayers for you