The Midrash (Eichah Pesichta 24) quotes the tefillos the Avos prayed at the time of the Churban. Avraham Avinu said to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, "Ribono shel Olam, when I was one hundred years old, you gave me a son. When he was a thirty-seven-year-old scholar, You told me to sacrifice him, and I bound him on the mizbeiach. Won't You remember that merit? Won't You have compassion on my children?"
Yitzchak Avinu said, "Ribono Shel Olam, when my father hinted to me that I would be sacrificed, I didn't protest. On the contrary, I allowed him to bind me on the mizbeiach. I stretched my throat out to the sword. Won't You remember that merit? Won't You have compassion on my children?"
Yaakov Avinu said, "Ribono Shel Olam, I was in Lavan's house for twenty years, and then I met up with Eisav who wanted to kill my children. I was moser nefesh to save them. And now, my descendants are in the hands of the enemy, like sheep to the slaughter! I raised them like chicks; I suffered so much to raise them. I worked so hard to raise them my entire life. Won't You remember all of that and have compassion on my descendants?'"
Avraham and Yitzchak spoke about their mesirus nefesh at the akeidah, and Yaakov spoke about his mesirus nefesh to raise his family. From here, we see that mesirus nefesh to raise a family is as great a sacrifice as the akeidah.
The Nesivos Shalom zt'l repeated this Midrash to a father complaining about how hard it was for him to support his family. The Nesivos Shalom explained, "Raising a family is the greatest deed and the supreme sacrifice. It is comparable to the mesirus nefesh of the akeidah. But don't worry. Do hishtadlus and Hashem will help that everything will work out."
