It is important to realize that gifts of the Spirit are given as the Spirit wills and not as any person wills. The Bible makes this quite clear:
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11, emphasis added).
God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will (Heb. 2:4, emphasis added).
A person might be used frequently in certain gifts, but no one possesses any of the gifts. Just because you are anointed once to work a miracle is no indication that you can work a miracle any time you desire; nor is it any guarantee that you will ever be used again to work a miracle.
We will briefly study and consider a few biblical examples of each gift. Keep in mind, however, that God can manifest His grace and power in an infinite number of ways, so it is impossible to define exactly how each gift will operate every single time. Moreover, there are no definitions of the nine spiritual gifts in Scripture—all we have are their labels. Thus we can only look at examples in the Bible and attempt to determine under which label each one should fall, ultimately defining them by their apparent differences. Because there are so many ways that the Holy Spirit can manifest Himself through supernatural gifts, it may be unwise to try to be overly strict in our definitions. Some gifts might actually be more like combinations of several gifts. Along these lines Paul wrote:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects [or operations], but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Cor. 12:4-7, emphasis added).
