Your Limo Is Waiting

Last week, the highly celebrated and hugely successful actor Val Kilmer died. Since then, a torrent of interviews, articles and other commentary about his life and work has been unleashed. I knew Mr. Kilmer primarily through his roles as Iceman in Top Gun and Bruce Wayne in Batman. But I did not know, as movie critic Roger Ebert once said, that if there was an award for the most unsung leading man of his generation, Val Kilmer should get it.” Neither did I know that the films he appeared in grossed a total of $3.8 billion worldwide. Nor did I know that he was a graduate of The Juilard School, considered by many as the "Harvard of the Arts” because it has produced so many talented actors, musicians, and directors. Nor did I know that while the official cause of his death on April 1, 2025 was pneumonia, many of his dearest and closest friends contend that he died many years before. And they contend that the unofficial cause of death was a broken heart.

This contention stems from the fact that while Mr. Kilmer enjoyed great success, it wasn’t the success that he wanted. He wanted to be a Shakespearean stage actor, and longed for film roles that showcased his range and depth as a performer. Unfortunately, those roles were hard to come by. Instead, he often felt that he was pigeonholed into roles that accentuated his good looks and easy charm. He accepted those roles, but accepting them took a massive emotional and psychological toll. Kilmer became increasingly difficult to work with. He said more than once that he felt trapped in the Hollywood fame machine. It was out of that frustration that KIlmer uttered one of the greatest quotes I have ever read. Shortly before being diagnosed with throat cancer, he said “God wants you to walk. But the Devil sends a limo.”

Kilmer is not merely pointing out a contrast between two forms of transportation. He is contrasting two fundamentally different approaches to life. Riding in limousines refers to the easy path. Walking refers to the hard path. And only a man who has “ridden in his share of limousines” can understand the depth and poignancy of that observation. At its core, the comment captures one of the most subtle strategies that the enemy uses to destroy us: success. Or at least how most of us define success. Driving that strategy is the demonic awareness that human beings are addicted to pleasure, averse to struggle, and enamored of the heights. Consequently, the Devil usually attempts to derail us by promoting us. The Devil will always take you “up.”

In the three temptations of Jesus that are delineated in Matthew 4:1-11, we see this strategy employed. After Jesus won the first encounter with Satan, Matthew 4::5 points out:

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple

After Jesus triumphed again, Matthew 4:8 observes:

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

Jesus successfully endured each of the temptations. And the enemy eventually left him for a season. But not before he sent two limousines. In each instance, he was trying to get Jesus to avoid pain, pursue pleasure, and take a shortcut.

But as I recently heard a wise man say, the problem with shortcuts is that they might actually work. A shortcut might actually save you time, energy, and effort—the actual time, energy and effort that is necessary to develop the strength, character, and resilience required for durable success.

This is not to say that we should never ride in limousines. I am not advocating a life full of suffering, misery, and pain. However, we should be keenly aware that every limousine that is waiting for us may not be headed in that direction that God wants us to go. Sometimes, you should walk. Sometimes, you must walk. Sometimes, you need to walk.

Take the hard way.

Have the hard conversation

Make the hard decision

Do the hard work.

Walk