If we followed doctors’ recommendations, we’d sleep seven to nine hours daily, spending about one-third of our lives in bed.

Sleep is “the universal healthcare provider,” according to researcher Matthew Walker. “Whatever the physical or mental ailment, sleep has a prescription it can dispense.”

Unfortunately, one-third of Americans don’t take their medicine.

John Calvin wrote that wisdom consists of the knowledge of God and ourselves. Brett McCracken uses that insight to outline The Wisdom of Sleep. Part 1 examines what sleep and rest reveal about us; Part 2 what they reveal about God.

The Wisdom of Sleep is not just a biblical or theological look at its subject, however. McCracken takes a “two books” approach to the subject. The first book is general revelation or nature. The second is special revelation and Scripture. Nature and Scripture complement each other because they have the same Author.

The need for sleep reveals our limitations, of course. Our bodies and minds break down through ceaseless activity and constant awareness. Sleep is part of recovery. It also is a good metaphor for death, which Raymond Chandler called “the Big Sleep.”

Sleep also reveals our God-given capabilities. It helps us imagine possibilities and sort out problems. And as Scripture shows, it prepares us to receive dreams and visions from God. None of this happens under our conscious control.

So what do sleep and rest reveal about God?

First, God himself rests. “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (Genesis 2:3). He wasn’t tired. Instead, rest reflected His enthronement.

“God is enthroned and present with God’s people in God’s place. Eden is a place of perfect shalom — peace. All is well,” writes McCracken. In that sense, a weekly sabbath is a little eschaton, a foretaste of eternity.

Rest also reveals God’s character as gracious, loving, sovereign, and merciful. No wonder Victor Hugo advised a friend, “Go to sleep in peace. God is awake.”

Finally, if sleep is a metaphor for death, it is God who wakes us up. “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).

Sleep is far more than a physical and mental necessity. Given what Scripture says about it, McCracken suggests “sleep speaks gospel truth.”

In a culture that crushes souls by demanding ceaseless activity and constant online presence, we need to hear this good news. The Wisdom of Sleep invites weary souls to “Join the Rest(istance)”!

Book Reviewed
Brett McCracken, The Wisdom of Sleep: How Rest Reveals God’s Truth and Revives Weary Souls (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective, 2026).

This article appears in the Summer 2026 issue of Influence magazine.