Paul doesn’t seem to repeat himself so we come to the working of miracles today, which includes physical healings, but is not limited to it. A literal translation of what Paul is saying regarding this gift is the “workings of powers”. This idea is that God supernaturally works in our world today. We use the word miracles for things like Jesus healing a paralytic, but we also use it for things like finding a parking spot at a crowded place. So what is a good biblical working definition of a miracle? Max Turner, a professor of New Testament at London Bible College, uses the term of an event that combines the following traits:

1. It is an extraordinary or startling observable event;
2. It cannot be reasonably explained in terms of human abilities or other known forces in the world;
3. It is perceived as a direct act of God; and
4. It is usually understood to have symbolic or sign value.

Wayne Grudem says, “A miracle is a less common kind of God’s activity in which he arouses people’s awe and wonder and bears witness to himself. We don’t want to see a miracle as God’s direct intervention in this world, because God is always intervening, because God is always present. A miracle is not an absent God making himself known, but a miracle is God working in a surprising and unfamiliar way. And often times God uses the means and instruments in this world to bring about the desired miracle. Just like Jesus used a little boy’s lunch to feed 5,000.