nature. The rose is doing exactly what it was meant to do according to the laws of nature.
Therefore, specifically, these are not miracles because a miracle is a supernatural intervention
in the ordinary course of nature.
Another example of a natural miracle, or a miracle generally speaking, is the birth of a child.
Sometimes the medical profession calls it the miracle of birth. Generally speaking, a natural
birth is a miracle. But it is not a miracle in the specific sense, because it is an event occurring
in the normal or ordinary course of nature.
The same is true in the spiritual realm regarding the "miracle" of salvation. Generally speaking,
salvation is a miracle; but specifically speaking, salvation isn't any more a miracle than a
natural birth is a miracle. In the supernatural realm, the new birth is
a very natural or normal occurrence. It is a supernatural act, but it is not the gift of working of
miracles in operation.
So, generally speaking, as a figure of speech, both the natural birth and the spiritual rebirth of
one's spirit are miracles. But specifically speaking, neither is a miracle because they are not a
supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature, neither in the natural realm nor in
the spiritual realm.
The new birth is a supernatural act which takes place in the spiritual realm. We do not call that
a miracle according to our definition of the word "miracle": a supernatural intervention in the
ordinary course of nature. What we call a miracle in the specific sense, is a supernatural act on
a natural plane.
Therefore, the new birth is not a supernatural act in the natural realm; it is a supernatural act in
the spiritual realm. The natural birth is in the natural realm. One is spiritual and the other is
natural, and neither are miracles in the specific sense.
Every one of the gifts of the Spirit is miraculous; they are all supernatural. In the general use of
the word "miracle," all gifts of the Spirit are miracles, not just the gift of the working of miracles.
But specifically speaking, all of them are not.
When the working of miracles is in manifestation, there is a divine intervention in the ordinary
course of nature. For example, the dividing of a stream by the sweep of a mantle is an
example of the working of miracles in operation (2 Kings 2:14). After Elijah ascended to
heaven in a chariot in the whirlwind, Elisha received his mantle and smote the Jordan River.
Dividing the waters by a sweep of his mantle was the working of miracles because that was a
supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature.
In the area of healing, many times miracles are received, but this is not necessarily the working
of miracles; they are simply called healing miracles. Everything that God does is miraculous in
a sense, but receiving healing by supernatural means is not a miracle in the same sense that
turning common dust into insects just by a gesture is a miracle (Exod. 8:16), or turning
common water into wine just by speaking a word is a miracle (John 2:7-11). Those two
occurrences are examples of the working of miracles.